KOLKATA: A road accident five years ago left 28-year-old Apurba Samanta bound to a wheelchair, But instead of cursing his fate and shedding tears, the youth from Ghatal decided to take this tragedy as a challenge and overcome it.
On Sunday, Samanta was among the five-km marathon runners in the city that had a mixed bag of participants – those running on wheelchairs and those running on foot, in Kolkata on Sunday.
“I took part in the marathon to encourage other wheelchair-bound persons not give up in life. Wheelchair is not the end of the world. There are so many things that we can achieve despite being in a wheelchair,” Samanta told TOI.
Before this Samanta had done a 42-km marathon and aims to participate in international events as well. The wheelchair peer trainer runs a Youtube channel to motivate people with spinal cord injuries.
“Being a part of this marathon has instilled a lot of confidence in me not to brood over life but look ahead,” said Pritam Medda, The 23-year-old had sustained the spinal cord injury after falling down from a tree five years ago.
Organized by the Institute of Neurosciences Kolkata (INK), the jugalbandi marathon had 16 participants on wheelchairs who ran along with runners on foot. The 16 participants included 10 from Spinal Odisha while the rest were from Spinal West Bengal.
“The idea behind the marathon for these wheelchair dependent persons alongside physically abled persons was to make them feel part of the mainstream and to empathise with them. They don’t need sympathy but encouragement,” said Suparna Ganguly, director, neuro rehabilitation department at INK, organizing secretary of the marathon.
Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim flagged off the marathon at the Victoria Memorial gate that had the likes of Kamalakanta Nayak who holds the record of covering 220 kms in less than 24 hours on the wheelchair.
“With rehabilitation therapies and modified wheelchairs, these young patients on wheelchairs can now be quite independent. And keeping them engaged in sporting and other outdoor activities certainly helps to uplift their mental wellbeing and self-esteem.
In fact, we have quite a few young patients who are into sporting activities in their wheelchairs. We should be encouraging them,” said Professor Rajesh Pramanik who heads the physical medicine and rehabilitation department at Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (SSKM Hospital).
On Sunday, Samanta was among the five-km marathon runners in the city that had a mixed bag of participants – those running on wheelchairs and those running on foot, in Kolkata on Sunday.
“I took part in the marathon to encourage other wheelchair-bound persons not give up in life. Wheelchair is not the end of the world. There are so many things that we can achieve despite being in a wheelchair,” Samanta told TOI.
Before this Samanta had done a 42-km marathon and aims to participate in international events as well. The wheelchair peer trainer runs a Youtube channel to motivate people with spinal cord injuries.
“Being a part of this marathon has instilled a lot of confidence in me not to brood over life but look ahead,” said Pritam Medda, The 23-year-old had sustained the spinal cord injury after falling down from a tree five years ago.
Organized by the Institute of Neurosciences Kolkata (INK), the jugalbandi marathon had 16 participants on wheelchairs who ran along with runners on foot. The 16 participants included 10 from Spinal Odisha while the rest were from Spinal West Bengal.
“The idea behind the marathon for these wheelchair dependent persons alongside physically abled persons was to make them feel part of the mainstream and to empathise with them. They don’t need sympathy but encouragement,” said Suparna Ganguly, director, neuro rehabilitation department at INK, organizing secretary of the marathon.
Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim flagged off the marathon at the Victoria Memorial gate that had the likes of Kamalakanta Nayak who holds the record of covering 220 kms in less than 24 hours on the wheelchair.
“With rehabilitation therapies and modified wheelchairs, these young patients on wheelchairs can now be quite independent. And keeping them engaged in sporting and other outdoor activities certainly helps to uplift their mental wellbeing and self-esteem.
In fact, we have quite a few young patients who are into sporting activities in their wheelchairs. We should be encouraging them,” said Professor Rajesh Pramanik who heads the physical medicine and rehabilitation department at Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (SSKM Hospital).
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