Sports curbs off for war wounded

The Army will open its Adventure Wing to soldiers who have lost limbs in battle, allowing them to paraglide and parajump once again.Army Chi...

The Army will open its Adventure Wing to soldiers who have lost limbs in battle, allowing them to paraglide and parajump once again.

Army Chief, General J J Singh, has invited serving officers and those injured in battle to write in to to the Army Adventure Wing here if they wish to paraglide and parajump. Officers will get to know by month-end if they have been selected for the Adventure Wing. Of late, there has been a surge of interest in adventure sports among disabled Army officers.

Gen Singh is believed to have been moved by the mental anguish that some disabled soldiers have experienced on failing to recover from their war injuries.

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But the Army Chief has reportedly been most inspired by Captain Dharam Datt Goel, whose leg was blown off when he stepped on a landmine at the Burez sector where he was leading a section during Operation Parakram in October 2002.

Goel, who was rushed to Srinagar and then Pune’s Artificial Limb Centre, has since worked as a teaching instructor at the Army Education Corps Training College and Centre in Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh. He lives there with his wife and son.

“I want to prove to my fellow men that losing a limb is not the end,” Capt Goel said from Pachmarhi. “I hope the Army will let me do some paragliding within the service. I have seen how suicidal soldiers become but they should know that life does not end here,” he said.

Goel had e-mailed the Army Chief last month saying: “I will also be responsible for any injuries, but I want the other amputees of our organisation to see and believe that life does not end here.”

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He added: “It will prove true on the lines of ‘Do you have it in you’ for those who see a disabled soldier flying and not broken even after casualty. Sir, it will also help those disabled soldiers who come to the Artificial Limb Centre (Pune) and are depressed and suicidal…”

Gen Singh responded by saying: “We are so very pleased to know about your still braver achievements. Your proposal has been considered.” Goel, who spent a year recovering, is seen as a mascot of sorts for soldiers who don’t want injury to come in the way of their duties in the Army.