New Delhi: Dingko Singh, the Asian Games gold medal winning former boxer, will be flown to New Delhi to resume his treatment for liver cancer. The 41-year-old was forced to miss a scheduled radiation therapy as he couldn't fly to the national capital from Imphal due to the ongoing lockdown.
Boxing Federation of India President Ajay Singh, who is also the Chairman and Managing Director of Spice Jet, arranged for the airliner to transport Dingko to New Delhi via an air ambulance, according to BFI Secretary General Jay Kowli.
"I spoke with him yesterday and today in the morning. He is suffering from cancer and like a true boxer he is fighting it out," Kowli told IANS.
"Our president is also the chairman of Spice Jet and fortunately they have their own air ambulance service. So he immediately called on their chief director to get him flown down."
Kowli said that in the meanwhile, he has been helping raise funds for Dingko's treatment.
"I spoke with all our community members and we are raising funds. He was very reluctant at first but I told him that you are in need and we are a family. I purposely did not collect the amount centrally because then it becomes an obligation for many people to give which I don't want it to be. I have instead circulated his bank account details to everyone," he said.
A bantamweight boxer in his days in the ring, Dingko Singh won gold at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games. He has since been awarded the Arjuna Award and later the Padma Shri. He has been suffering from a relapse of liver cancer.
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