Paralysed,yet she holds her spirits high

Paralysed below the chest at the age of 30 due to a spinal cord tumour,Ahmednagar’s Deepa Malik today is perhaps the sole disabled wheelchair- bound athlete who received an award for her completion of the Raid the Himalayas rally. She has also qualified for the Commonwealth Games in the disabled category to be held next year in New Delhi for the shot put event.

At 41,Deepa has also won a bronze medal in the recently-concluded International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports (IWAS) competition at Bangalore which has helped her to qualify for the commonwealth games. The IWAS games were hosted by India at Bangalore where 47 countries participated. “This is the first international medal in India ever won in a F-53 woman category,’’ says an elated Deepa,

Deepa has spastic paraplegia (paralysis below chest level due to spinal cord damage at T-2 to T-7 level and three spinal surgeries resulting into 153 stitches between shoulder blades).

Deepa who fought her handicap successfully has been an established swimmer,participating and winning at national and state championships,

She took up sports seriously when she won second place at the Asia Pacific games at Malaysia in 2006 in the disabled category India-S1 and International S-4. She qualified for the javelin throw event for the Beijing Paralypics and also the International swimming championship in Germany in May this year.