Wheels of hope

Ever since he suffered a multiple sclerosis attack which rendered him 75 per cent paralysed from the waist down at the age of 17,Virat began to unlearn everything he was taught about an independent living. “Even though for the initial two years after my diagnosis,I was lying at home like a bag of potatoes,I never allowed the physical immobility to get the better of me. I accepted my condition and proceeded to complete my graduation,” says Virat,who is currently the sports rehabilitation trainer at the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre,Vasant Kunj. A member of India’s wheelchair tennis team,he is also the coach of India’s first wheelchair rugby team.

After struggling with his job at a medical transcription firm at South-Extension for five years,Virat enrolled for an active rehabilitation programme at the Spinal Injuries Centre in 2008. Here he learnt to give up self-pity and convert his weakness into his greatest strength. “I wanted to use this disability to contribute to a greater cause. So I enrolled as a volunteer with the Centre and quit my job,” he recalls.

Since the hospital is equipped with 150 beds,as part of the rehabilitation programme at the Centre,Virat needs to impart to almost all patients (who are not in the ICU or the CCU) basic wheelchair skills including fetching water,changing clothes,getting on and off the wheelchair. “I even teach them how to date girls,” he says,laughing. But on a serious note,he adds,“Training is often the easy part. It is instilling them with the confidence that needs a different approaches.”

A few of the physically strong patients are given special training in wheelchair sports. So there are paraplegic sports like volleyball,tennis,table tennis,basketball and the newly introduced quadriplegic rugby. In 2008,he created history of sorts by entering India’s wheelchair rugby team into an international competition,and the team played an exhibition match with Brazil at the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports,Bangalore. Though the team lost,the experience was like a flush of energy for the patients.

“Playing different sports facilitates the rehabilitation process for these patients. It makes them active,” says Virat,who was an avid footballer in school and played at the inter-school level. At any given time,Virat is teaching 10-15 patients different wheelchair sports. So for 21-year old Mandip Singh,being wheelchair-ridden has presented him with an opportunity he never imagined possible. A passionate sportsman before his accident,Singh is training for the All India Wheelchair Tennis Tournament on March 26 in Mumbai. “I have only seen tennis on TV,but never the wheelchair version. I seem to be gradually getting better at the game,” he says with a smile. Currently Virat is preparing for the wheelchair tennis championship at the Paraplegic Games of the 2012 London Olympics.