Arjuna awardee, athlete and paraplegic, Deepa Malik, who refused to be cowed down by her physical disabilities, now wants to start a sports academy to train physically challenged persons.
Deepa, who was here to receive an honorary award on Thursday, told Express that there were hardly any facilities in the country for physically challenged sportspersons to train.
Deepa was presented with the honorary Assist World Records Award by Speaker V Sabapathy, in the presence of Welfare Minister P Rajavelu, G Nehru, MLA, Dr R Thamizhvannan and R Rajendran.
After the award ceremony, She said “I have the will and knowledge. If someone comes forward and offers help, I wou-
ld want to set up the sports academy to train the physically challenged.”
Deepa, who is paralysed from chest down, belongs to the F53 disability category in paralympics. She holds the Asian record in wheelchair javelin (8.86 metres). She also wants to train herself in the academy for the Asian Games 2014.
The 42-year-old paraplegic said she lost a medal at the recent World Championships because of inadequate training.
Deepa suffers total chest below paralysis after three spinal tumour surgeries 13 years ago. She received 183 stitches between her shoulder blades.
“I learnt the value of life the hard way. Life was smooth and flowing until the difficulties struck me after hospitalisation. That was when I learnt the value of life,” she said, after the award ceremony.