From Coaching Champions to Fighting Paralysis: Coach Dara Aprillya

Prameshwarie’s Journey

Please support our coach as she navigates the challenges of a new life as a paraplegic.

A message from her students:

Dara is a former Indonesian Badminton women’s doubles national player and has decades of coaching experience. She is a valued and cherished coach at our club for the past six years, and she urgently needs your help. Throughout her coaching career, Dara has celebrated various achievements with the teams and athletes she coached, but for many in the badminton community, Dara has been more than just a coach.

From Jason, a student since 2020:

“I’ve trained under Coach Dara from the day she started at Shuttlesport. I was in her very first group. She didn’t just want us to succeed as badminton players. She wanted us to grow as individuals.”

From Malina, a student since 2022:

“For Dara, you did not have to be the best player. You just had to be willing to try. She was someone who was there for me, not just as a coach, but as a friend.”

From William, a student since 2020:

“Coach Dara has had a huge impact on me. Her passion for badminton and dedication to her athletes is something I’ve always admired. She cares deeply about every player she works with.”

Read the full tributes here

Her positive mindset and coaching values were what she brought everyday to Shuttlesport as a Senior Coach and Head Professional. Every day, every week was spent at the club working with players. Whenever we were there, she was there to welcome us. There were truly no days off for her, but despite long days, she has never let that impact how she showed up to her job. She was often the first to to be at the club in the mornings, and one of the last to leave in the evening. By 2024, her outstanding efforts were recognized when she was awarded the 2024 Competition Coach of the Year for coaches in B.C.

She would also go on to win a gold medal for the BC Winter Games in 2024, and coached players who medaled both provincially, and nationally. But for Dara, coaching was never about only winning medals. It has always been about helping the younger generation like us to develop confidence, resilience, and character through sport.

A Sudden Life-Changing Moment

Dara’s life changed dramatically when she fell three times in the span of a month before being diagnosed with a severe spinal cord injury, which required an emergency surgery known as a Posterior Thoracic Laminectomy. The surgery did not go as planned, and left her paralyzed from the waist down, changing her life overnight. She is now facing the difficult reality of living as a paraplegic, navigating daily challenges that affect mobility, independence, and basic daily life activities.

As she spends her second month at the hospital, the medical expenses paired with her family situation and financial crisis are creeping up on her. She grew up in a low-income household in Indonesia where her family still lives today. Support and financial assistance were rarely options. With little money, hard work was the solution to most problems but for this one, hard work is not going to be enough.

With your help, we will be able to cover the costs of:

One Final Call

She needs us. Unfortunately, time is ticking away. Due to her financial situation, if not enough money is raised, she will have to return to Indonesia where the specialized resources for her treatment and rehabilitation are not widely available. With the help of the community, we can help her stay in Canada and make her dream of one day returning to the badminton courts as a coach come true. Coach Dara has been a significant part of our lives and the badminton community, and we hope that we can give back to someone who has given us more than we could’ve ever asked for. She supported us during our hardest times. Now, it’s our turn to return the favor.

We’re not just reaching out to the badminton community but to everyone. Every donation, no matter how small, brings us closer to our goal of seeing our coach again on the court. If you cannot donate, we kindly ask you to share and help us spread our coach’s story.

Together, we can bring Coach Dara back to the court.

Love,

The Shuttlesport Community