Running against all odds

Hyderabad: April 2, 2011, is etched in the memory of Indian cricket fans as the day India lifted the ICC World Cup. But for Manish Pandey, on that day his world turned upside down.

Manish, a long jump athlete, was on his way back to his hometown, Hirmi, Chhattisgarh, from Raipur to watch the match and instead of the bus, he opted to take the train as it would be faster. But he was not the only one in a rush. In the hustle bustle of the crowd, he fell from the train and lost a leg.

Today, 22-year-old Manish has won a silver medal in 200m and a bronze medal in 100m at the 2014 IPC Athletics Grand Prix 8th Tunis International meeting held in Tunisia.
Manish missed the gold by 0.25 second and the silver by 0.02 second.

After the accident and five months of bed rest, Manish got to know about Paralympics in India. His sports dream still being close to his heart, he decided to go to Bengaluru and try his luck, but met with a lot of disappointments.

“I went to Bengaluru for long jump trials and I was told that I was very good. But the catch was that I would need a blade prosthetic to pursue athletics professionally and that would cost me at least Rs 3 to Rs 4 lakh,” says Manish.

“I spent one year after that looking for funds and approaching different prosthetic companies,” he adds.

It was in 2013, in Hyderabad, that Manish’s life changed again, this time for the better. “I got in touch with Dakshin Rehabilitation Centre, Hyderabad and G. Mohana Gandhi, the founder, helped me get a blade. And that’s when my life changed,” he says.

Manish has always found support from his friends and family and even when many others judged him when he wore shorts, it was his father who always stood by him. “I had always wanted to have a career in sports and I don’t think a missing leg can stop me from achieving my dreams,” he says adding, “It feels great to know that there are people who are motivated by me.”

Manish’s speed on track is 13 seconds for 100 metres, and there’s a lot that has gone into it two hours of weight lifting and two and a half hours of track and field practice every day. And the amazing thing is that he doesn’t have a coach but learns from YouTube.

The win at Tunisia has qualified Manish for the Asian Paralympics that will be held in the month of October in South Korea.