Sheetal Devi: With three medals at Asian Para Games, 16-year-old armless archer from J&K is making waves

Sheetal was born with Phocomelia, a rare congenital disorder that causes under-developed limbs. “Initially, I could not even lift the bow properly. But, after practising for a couple of months, it became easier,” Sheetal told The Indian Express on Thursday.

“My parents always had faith in me. My friends in the village also supported me. The only thing I didn’t like was the look on people’s faces when they realised that I don’t have arms. These medals prove that I am special. These medals are not just mine, but of the whole country,” she said.

At Hangzhou, Sheetal won a women’s team silver while pairing up with Sarita, and a mixed team gold with Rakesh Kumar — an impressive haul for someone who started training with the bow-and-arrow just two years ago.

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Her transformation from a school-going girl to an Asian Para Games medallist started when she enrolled for a youth event organised by the Indian Army in Kishtwar in 2021. Sheetal caught the attention of the scouts because of her athleticism. To get her a prosthetic arm, they reached out to the Major Akshay Girish Memorial Trust in Bengaluru, which in turn contacted Being You, an online storytelling platform.

Sheetal Devi & Rakesh Kumar won India’s first archery gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games defeating China in the Mixed Team Compound – Open final (Via SAI Media)

However, the prosthetic didn’t fit and Sheetal’s sporting career looked like it would end prematurely.

“When we saw her, we felt the prosthetic arm would not work for her. She felt like it was the end of the road,” Preethi Rai, co-founder of Being You, said.

But they did not lose hope. Climbing trees was a pastime back home, using her legs and upper body would be a silver lining.

“An assessment done by sports physiotherapist Shrikant Iyenger showed she had a very strong upper body. She got 8.5 out of 10 in the test,” Rai said. Iyengar suggested archery, swimming and running as options.

Sheetal said she didn’t know the muscles she developed by climbing trees would help her eventually. “Trees ki oochaaniyaan ko chooona chahiti thi, yahi cheez mujhe hamesha khush rakhti thi (I wanted to touch the heights of the trees, that was the only thing which made me happy),” Sheetal said.

A collective decision was taken. Sheetal would train at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Sports Complex in Katra.

Coaches Abhilasha Chaudhary and Kuldeep Vedwan had never trained an archer without arms. However, they had seen 2012 London Paralympics silver medallist Matt Stutzman using his legs to shoot.

“We modified a locally-made releaser into a shoulder releaser. We also put together a string mechanism for the chin and mouth to create the trigger to help her release the arrow. We improvised based on what we saw Mark Stutzman using,” said Chaudhary.

Sheetal started by shooting 50-100 arrows daily; the count went up to 300 as her strength improved. Six months later, she won a silver medal at the Para Open Nationals in Sonepat. She also finished fourth when competing against able-bodied archers at the Open Nationals.

“When Kuldeep Sir made me train with the bow for the first time, I thought I could never do it. But as he made me understand the technique, I felt I should give it a try,” Sheetal said.

Sheetal said she was determined to make a name for herself after seeing her parents working hard to provide for her and her two siblings. “My father worked all day on the rice and vegetable farm, and my mother looked after three-four goats owned by our family. Whatever my father earns is spent on the family; we hardly have any savings,” she said.

Earlier this year, Sheetal also won the silver medal at the World Para Archery Championships in Pilsen in the Czech Republic. She lost to Oznur Cure of Turkey in the final, but became the first female armless archer to win a medal at the world championship.