The injured rugby player lay on the ground in obvious pain with a broken leg. Around him, a group of inexperienced first aiders were beginning to panic. For Keagan Diab, staying calm was not optional. She knelt beside the student, spoke steadily and reassured him that help was at hand. Slowly, the panic subsided. The injured player relaxed. 

It was a moment that revealed an important lessons Diab has learned: When people are frightened, leadership often begins with calmness.

Diab is Stellenbosch University’s (SU) First Aid Coordinator, overseeing a team of student first aid volunteers who provide support at residence sport fixtures, Maties sporting events and various campus activities. But long before she was helping injured athletes from the sidelines, she was a promising athlete herself.

The girl who dreamed of the Olympics

Born and raised in Johannesburg, Diab grew up in a sporting family and quickly discovered a passion for judo. What began as a childhood activity with her two older brothers soon developed into something much bigger. She excelled on the national stage, represented South Africa internationally and competed at the Commonwealth Judo Championships in India at just 13 years old.

Even now, years later, she still regards that achievement as one of the proudest moments of her life. Her ambitions stretched further still. “My elite goal was to go to the Olympics,” she says. Judo taught her discipline, perseverance and the importance of setting ambitious goals. “If you don’t fight for what you want, you’re never going to get it,” she reflects.

At 14, Diab’s path to sporting glory derailed overnight. She tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her knee. Initially, doctors told her she might never run, swim or participate in sport again. “It destroyed me,” she recalls. “All I had known since I was probably five or six was that I was going to be at the top in judo.”

For a young athlete whose identity revolved around sport, it was almost impossible to imagine a future without it. Yet what followed became one of the defining experiences of her life. Supported fiercely by her mother, Kathryn, Diab eventually found a specialist willing to attempt a complex reconstruction procedure. After surgery came months of physiotherapy, rehabilitation and biokinetic treatment.

The journey was physically exhausting and emotionally demanding. Yet slowly she recovered. She could run and swim and remained active, although certain high-impact activities hold risks. At school she excelled in leadership, serving as head girl of Curro High School in Krugersdorp and captaining sports teams. 

Today, she is philosophical about the impact of her injury: When one door closes, another door opens.

Finding a different way to help

The injury that ended her competitive judo ambitions also introduced her to a world she had never considered before. Throughout her recovery she encountered doctors, physiotherapists and healthcare professionals whose support left a lasting impression. Watching them care for injured patients sparked a desire to help others in similar ways.

That instinct deepened during a gap year, when she worked for a non-profit organisation supporting children with cancer. By the time she arrived at SU to study BA Humanities, majoring in subjects including psychology and anthropology, service to others had become central to her sense of purpose.

The move from Johannesburg to Stellenbosch was exciting but intimidating. “When I arrived, I didn’t have any friends. I didn’t know anybody down here,” she remembers. Everything changed when she visited the societies fair during Welcoming Week and noticed a stall for the University’s First Aid Society. She immediately signed up.

Through first aid volunteering, Diab discovered a community of like-minded students and an opportunity to combine leadership with service. She worked her way up through the organisation before being appointed First Aid Coordinator.

“I never thought that moving to Stellenbosch would give me such an opportunity to help others,” she says. Today, she manages a team of student first aiders, coordinates shifts, organises training and supports volunteers working at sporting events across campus.

Leading from behind

Ask Diab what leadership means and her answer is simple. “I’m not someone who leads from the front; I’m the support that guides others from behind.” It is a philosophy shaped by years of sport, service and personal adversity. She believes leadership is about helping others succeed rather than seeking recognition for herself.

The same nurturing instinct appears throughout her life. Her friends affectionately describe her as “the mom” of their friendship group because she is always prepared, always organised and always looking after others. “If you need a plaster, I have a plaster. If you need a tissue, I have a tissue,” she laughs.

Away from academics and first aid, she enjoys baking, cooking and volunteering at an animal shelter. Her love of dogs is so well known that her father jokingly calls them her “kryptonite”.

As South Africa marks the 50th anniversary of the Soweto Uprising this Youth Month, Diab says she is deeply aware of the privilege of being able to pursue higher education. “Youth Month to me is celebrating the fact that I am extremely blessed to be here to study and learn and form new relationships.”

Her advice to other young people is equally grounded. Many students, she says, feel overwhelmed by uncertainty and pressure. But she believes it is important to pause, reflect and remember that life does not need to follow a perfectly planned route. “It's never too late to figure out what you want to do with your life,” she says.

After all, she knows better than most that sometimes the path you never planned for becomes the one that changes your life.