NEW DELHI: Landmines along the Line of Control (LoC) shattered the limbs of three of them, while the brutal Kargil cold claimed a fourth's leg. Undeterred, six soldiers from the Indian Army have rebuilt their lives through sport, returning from the Asian Para Games in Japan with a gold, an Asian record and a podium sweep among their haul.
Army chief Gen Dhiraj Seth on Thursday felicitated the six soldier-athletes, who won one gold, two silver and three bronze at Aichi-Nagoya last month.
The medals, the Army said in a statement, reflect its "sustained efforts towards rehabilitation and sporting excellence among injured soldiers". Four of the six are repeat medallists at the Asian, world or Paralympic level.
The standout was Subedar Solairaj D of 21 Madras, whose left leg had to be amputated below the knee in 2018 after the extreme cold in Batalik choked its blood supply. The soldier from Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi retained his long jump title with a 7.15m leap, breaking the Asian record for the third time in three years.
Then there is Subedar H Hokato Sema of 9 Assam, who had served barely 16 months when a mine blast at Chowkibal cost him his left leg below the knee in 2002. Twenty-four years on, the Naga soldier won shot put bronze, his third at successive Games after Hangzhou (2023) and Paris (2024), where he became Nagaland's first Paralympic medallist.
Subedar Ajay Kumar of 12 Dogra, whose father Chunni Lal also served in the regiment, lost his left leg below the knee to a mine in Uri in 2017. The Hangzhou silver medallist from Himachal's Mandi won the 400m bronze.
Devender Kumar led an all-Indian discus podium, with two soldiers behind him. Havildar Pardeep Kumar of 16 Rajputana Rifles, who lost part of his left foot to a mine at Sunderbani in 2019 and won bronze at last year's world championships, added another bronze despite a personal-best 51.15m, the longest throw on the podium, as the combined-class event is decided on points.
Silver went to Havildar Rakesh Kundu of 629 SATA Battery, the newest para-athlete of the lot. Left with foot drop after a 2018 injury at the Artillery Centre in Hyderabad, he joined the Army Paralympic Node (APN) only in 2023. Back home in Rohtak's Titauli village, he handed the medal to his grandfather Hawa Singh.
In the pool, Havildar Kapil Kumar of 5 Rajput, wounded in Poonch in 2020, pipped Iran's Shahin Izadyar by 0.21 seconds to clinch silver in the 400m freestyle S10.
Gen Seth also felicitated Simran Sharma, the sprinter born premature with impaired vision who won the 100m and 200m T12 golds. Her husband and coach, Naik Gajender, serves in the Army Service Corps.
Behind the medals is the Army Paralympic Node, set up at Kirkee in Pune in 2017. Working with the Artificial Limb Centre and the Spinal Cord Injury Centre, it provides injured soldiers specialised medical care, prosthetic support, rehabilitation and structured sports training. Army para-athletes won seven medals at Hangzhou and six this time, as India stormed to fourth place with a record 114.
Solairaj, for whom Tamil Nadu has announced Rs 75 lakh, now has his sights on the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics.