There is ability in every disability

It is said that blindness separates people from things but deafness separates people from people. For some people, losing their sense of hearing means being a disadvantage to society- almost a handicap. But for 37 year old Davina Barrett, losing her sense of hearing has never stopped her from living a ‘normal’ life. In fact, she has discovered her ability given her disability.

At 23 years old, Barrett was diagnosed with moderate hearing loss, a condition that worsened as she aged. Before this diagnosis however, her condition went undetected by most persons she came in contact with including close family members. Because of this, she said her academic performance was negatively impacted.

In 2010, at age 31 Barrett’s moderate hearing loss was correctly diagnosed. After several ENT visits, probes and hearing aids, Barrett was diagnosed with Chronic Rhinitis, a disorder in the body that's associated with excessive mucus production and also environmental factors.

This diagnosis came weeks after Barrett’s debut on the bodybuilding stage in 2010. Barrett said at this point she was not sure if she could follow through with all the mandatory poses that was required of her on stage with her erotic hearing loss.

That year (2010) Barrett placed first in the JABBFA National Championships women’s physique category. She noted that preparations leading up to the bodybuilding competition are always exciting- the rush, the drive to look better than the previous year. In the same breath she’s always reminded of her constant struggle with Chronic Rhinitis (allergies) and free radicals which places a restriction on her & her ability to gain as she is allergic and also can become allergic to some food groups while preparing for a show.

Despite being hearing impaired, she has reaped a huge level of success in the sport, winning the women’s physique category at the Ms. Jamaica Competition for six years running and is one of the few ‘true’ female bodybuilders in Jamaica. Barrett walked away with both the women’s physique title and the women’s physique overall in the Supligen/JABBFA National Championship held on August 27 of this year, moving her title count up to six. What motivated her to enter bodybuilding she said, was to grow in a healthy discipline and reflect positivity on the fitness fraternity.

Now a Fitness Trainer/Personal Trainer, Barrett describes herself as being very sociable although her hearing loss has gotten worse.

She noted that being disabled has only taught her to fight smarter and harder for her personal development and only made her a stronger individual. The support Barrett has received from her family and friends is a major key behind her continuous thrust to not limiting herself but instead to continuously improve and contribute to nation building like every other Jamaican citizen. But she said that there some of her family members and friends that are still learning to accept her with a her condition.

For Barrett her good and bad days with hearing loss is like a switch, there are days when her hearing loss gets very bad, where she has to do lip reading as her hearing aids won’t work for her because of a rare loss of hearing frequency closer to the brain. Her plan is to do sign language in the near future and she is still very optimistic about becoming a professional athlete.