Damaged spinal cords no barrier for these sporting stars
He had no idea a disabled could actually swim until he read a news report in Kantipur about his friend
Useful Links
» A new way to read online, exact replica of your daily and magazine
» For all you tweety fans out there!
» Allows you to find only those news from any date you choose!
» Search any news/ articles by author/ category/ date/ keyword
KATHMANDU, AUG 30 -
People cheered and applauded as five men and as many women, all suffering from spinal cord injuries, were carried off their wheelchairs into the swimming pool. They watched in disbelief as the 10 swam the length of the 25m swimming pool.
Digam Limbu, 23, won the men’s race with a timing of 39.98secs while Sonkia Dhakal bagged the women’s title clocking 40.98 secs, a timing that easily beat even the second finisher of the men’s event, Kirshna Chaudhary (41.18secs).
“I feel there is nothing impossible,” said Limbu, who sustained spinal cord injury in a road accident in Dubai about a year ago. He had no idea a disabled could actually swim until he read a news report in Kantipur about his fellow disabled friends playing basketball in wheelchair about six month ago.
As for Dhakal, it’s been six years since she suffered the injury. A mishap while on a swing during Dashain resulted in one of the worst accidents of her life. “I don’t feel disabled when I am inside the pool. I feel like any other human being,” she said.
The spinal cord injury hit people spun further surprises again when they played water polo.
“In the coming days we will come up with more events. We will discuss with them what they want to play next,” said Sami Tamang, reigning Miss Tamang and national wushu player, who currently runs a school -- Buddha Prakash School -- for the spinal cord injury hit people with her father.
Nepal Spinal Cord Injury Sports Association had earlier organised a basketball event and conducted various cleanliness programmes around Jorpati. Its president, Kishor Bahadur K.C., who sustained the injury when he was shot twice during armed conflict between the Maoist and the Army, said that such events would help change people’s mindset towards people living with disabilities. “This association is the brain child of four people. By doing this we are instilling confidence in the disable people and also changing the mindset of the able,” said K.C., who is also sub-inspector.
Consultant Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Anil Bahadur Shrestha said spinal cord injuries were of two types and none had permanent cure. The first type is sustained when a person suffers injury at the back of the neck. After the injury, control over the entire body is lost. The second kind occurs when the injury takes place below the nape. The sufferers of this injury lose only the use of the lower part of the body (below the hip).
“Swimming is one of the best exercises for the spinal cord injury hit people. It gives them both physical and psychological boost,” he said.
Posted on: 2010-08-30 09:10
Post Your Comment