Panaji: Major (Retd) Devender Pal Singh, India’s first ever blade runner, doesn’t like his injury referred to as a tragedy. He will have none of it.
The Kargil war hero lost his right leg in battle and survived a life-and-death struggle to recovery before embarking on a vocation to inspire people facing similar challenges.
His brainchild, the JK Cement Swachh Ability Run on Sunday, aims at including people with disabilities and represents a resolve after he was gravely wounded in July 1999 when mortar fire rendered him hors de combat.
“It was not a loss. It gave me a second life. Besides, it was an injury in war while fighting for my country. It’s a proud feeling,” DP, as he is fondly called, says.
“After all, I am a Sikh and my religion is full of martyrdom,” he said, throwing light on his acceptance of adversity. Why, even celebrating it!
Wallowing in self-pity, it dawns on you, had and will never be an option for DP. As he flashes back, he picturized the days after the encounter with Pakistani forces.
“There were seven of us badly wounded. There was one who lost his eyes, another an arm. I only lost a leg. I was far luckier,” he recounts.
“The camaraderie in the army is huge. We boosted our collective morale as we underwent rehabilitation. We joked and laughed. Even danced!”
“At the RSI Club, Pune, I danced on one leg,” he recollects. “An onlooker later thanked me. Amused, I asked why…
“The man told me he was on the verge of suicide. The sight of a young man dancing without a leg made him feel so fortunate and caused a change of mind,” DP said, a sense of fulfilment lining his speech.
The war hero feeds on a simple philosophy. “Accept reality, enjoy and make the best of what you have,” he professes.
DP wore a prosthetic leg and first took part at the 2009 Delhi half marathon and used the blade in 2011, the first instance in India.
That very year, he instituted The Challenging Ones, a running group for amputees, many of whom run marathons.
It’s the series of little challenges in daily life that could be daunting for an amputee, DP observes.
“My intestines had been damaged by the shrapnel and I need to drink special tea and eat fibre biscuits to experience normal bowel movements and this becomes crucial before running,” DP, an avowed fan of South African legend and pioneering blade runner Oscar Pistorius, explains.
After retiring from the army in 2007, DP worked in a corporate for seven years before embarking on the Swachh Ability Run that combines two social causes – accepting disabled people as equals in society while promoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cleanliness programme Swachh Bharat.
“To see an amputee run a race and then watch him clean the streets should send a strong message across,” he said as he expressed gratitude to the sponsors whose immediate response to his idea helped make the event a reality.
The race on Sunday is one of five, the others being at Belgavi, Hubballi, Mangaluru and Bengaluru.
The Kargil war hero lost his right leg in battle and survived a life-and-death struggle to recovery before embarking on a vocation to inspire people facing similar challenges.
His brainchild, the JK Cement Swachh Ability Run on Sunday, aims at including people with disabilities and represents a resolve after he was gravely wounded in July 1999 when mortar fire rendered him hors de combat.
“It was not a loss. It gave me a second life. Besides, it was an injury in war while fighting for my country. It’s a proud feeling,” DP, as he is fondly called, says.
“After all, I am a Sikh and my religion is full of martyrdom,” he said, throwing light on his acceptance of adversity. Why, even celebrating it!
Wallowing in self-pity, it dawns on you, had and will never be an option for DP. As he flashes back, he picturized the days after the encounter with Pakistani forces.
“There were seven of us badly wounded. There was one who lost his eyes, another an arm. I only lost a leg. I was far luckier,” he recounts.
“The camaraderie in the army is huge. We boosted our collective morale as we underwent rehabilitation. We joked and laughed. Even danced!”
“At the RSI Club, Pune, I danced on one leg,” he recollects. “An onlooker later thanked me. Amused, I asked why…
“The man told me he was on the verge of suicide. The sight of a young man dancing without a leg made him feel so fortunate and caused a change of mind,” DP said, a sense of fulfilment lining his speech.
The war hero feeds on a simple philosophy. “Accept reality, enjoy and make the best of what you have,” he professes.
DP wore a prosthetic leg and first took part at the 2009 Delhi half marathon and used the blade in 2011, the first instance in India.
That very year, he instituted The Challenging Ones, a running group for amputees, many of whom run marathons.
It’s the series of little challenges in daily life that could be daunting for an amputee, DP observes.
“My intestines had been damaged by the shrapnel and I need to drink special tea and eat fibre biscuits to experience normal bowel movements and this becomes crucial before running,” DP, an avowed fan of South African legend and pioneering blade runner Oscar Pistorius, explains.
After retiring from the army in 2007, DP worked in a corporate for seven years before embarking on the Swachh Ability Run that combines two social causes – accepting disabled people as equals in society while promoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cleanliness programme Swachh Bharat.
“To see an amputee run a race and then watch him clean the streets should send a strong message across,” he said as he expressed gratitude to the sponsors whose immediate response to his idea helped make the event a reality.
The race on Sunday is one of five, the others being at Belgavi, Hubballi, Mangaluru and Bengaluru.
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