BENGALURU: Girish R Gowda (31), kickboxerand fighter from Karnataka, won the national championship on Friday after battling blood cancer. But his journey was not smooth. With no financial support from the state government or any sports council or federation, Girish has spent lakhs of rupees for his treatment and is yet to pay his full treatment amount to CyteCare hospital.
Siddaramaiah government had promised to pay a measly amount of `1 lakh but even that has not come. Girish fondly recalls Siddaramaiah’s son Rakesh and says, “He was my fan and personally gave me `2 lakh and had promised to help me in all my future sporting events. But alas! He is no more.”
However, Satish Mittal and his team from the Swastik Seva Trust have promised to take care of his sports’ needs and sponsor his kickboxing fights in the future.