Photo: Stephen Barker
Nikita Howarth has never been one to accept limitations. Born with congenital dysmelia, which is characterised by the absence or severe malformations of the body’s extremities, she has no right hand and a left arm that ends below the elbow.
But when she lined up with swimmers more than twice her age at the London 2012 Paralympics aged 13, she became New Zealand’s youngest-ever competitor. At the Rio 2016 Paralympics, she took home gold and bronze medals in the women’s 200m individual medley and 50m butterfly respectively. She also competed at the 2020 Tokyo Games, before finally hanging up her togs last year.
“Three Olympics was enough for me,” she says. “I didn’t want that much stress any more, and I was ready to get a job and live my life.”
These days, Nikita, 25, is an apprentice painter and decorator in Hamilton – something people told her she’d never be able to do.
“I know I’m disabled because society tells me I am, but that’s not how I feel,” says Nikita, who’s from Cambridge in the Waikato. “I’ve been this way since I was born, so for me, this is normal. Growing up, my parents would always tell me about what I could do, so that’s the way I learned to think.”
While Nikita hadn’t had much time to think about what came after competitive swimming, a career in the trades appealed. But despite applying for multiple jobs for six months, she never got an interview.
“I don’t know whether nobody was hiring or nobody would take me,” she says.
But when Work and Income put her in touch with a company called Cantec, Nikita was offered a trial position as a painter. Three weeks later, her boss Brendon McLean offered her a permanent role. Six weeks later, he extended that to include an apprenticeship in painting and decorating through building trade training programme BCITO.
“I knew I could paint as I’d helped my dad quite a bit in the past. So, when Brendon asked me if I’d be prepared to have a go, I thought, ‘Why not?’” she recalls. “As a kid, I learned how to hold all kinds of things with my arms – the hardest of which was a pen. Once I’d figured that out, I was fine.
“Holding a paintbrush isn’t so different. It’s just about how you hold it and how accurate you are.”
Although she has to manoeuvre her body to get into small spaces – “sometimes I have to get my shoulders completely in there” – Nikita says she can access most awkward spots. And if she can’t reach, she simply asks a colleague.
“If it’s too high up or I can’t get in, there’s always someone who’ll help,” she says. “You just have to be open and honest with the people you work with.”
Nikita works using paintbrushes and a baby roller, tucking the handles into her arm sleeves to hold them steady. She uses an arm prosthetic when using a standard roller. But she’s in the process of having a customised arm made that will be able to hold brushes and rollers.
“Right now, I’m getting a prosthetic made for me that will fit on the end of my arm,” she explains. “It’ll be mint and I’m going to be fast as!”
Nikita has a solid support crew, which includes her parents, Carmel and Steve, her sisters Rhiannon, 27, and Astrid, 23, granddad David and her partner Caleb Lucas, 20.
“I don’t rely on Mum and Dad like I used to. Caleb and I see them all at least once a week for dinners and to hang out, though,” she shares. “They are there for me if I need them. I mean, we all need help sometimes – who doesn’t? After all, humans aren’t meant to do everything on their own.”
Nikita has plenty of plans for the future – and those include the desire to learn more trades.
“I’d like to learn something electrical and I want to learn to build,” she tells.
She also has a positive message for anyone who feels their disability is holding them back.
“Anything’s possible,” she declares. “When I was growing up, I’d do things just to prove the people who didn’t believe I could do them wrong. Now I’m not afraid to ask for help if I need it.
“My advice is to dream big because success is all about whether you choose to try. If you want to do something – give it a go.”
For more info about trades, visit bcito.org.nz
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