Amputated rider set to ride 5 tions

When determition knows no bounds what else can impede a person?

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Aug 27:  When determition knows no bounds, no sort of disability is a hurdle in true sense of the term. A glaring instance of this is 25-year-old Rakesh Banik of Koliabor Ambagan in the State. He goes on riding for hope.

Rakesh Banik met with a gruesome accident on 11 June, 2012 when his life took a turn as destiny wants to. That was the day when destiny scripted a different story for him. He sustained multiple injuries with a number of body parts getting damaged. It was GNRC Hospital, Guwahati that iled his displaced knee joints together. The left leg had to be amputated due to severe infection. All such odds, however, failed to kill the determition hidden in the core of his bosom.

Sharing his experience with The Sentinel, Rakesh said: “I was taken to Cheni Apollo in an air ambulance. A doctor there declared that it was too late, and there was no altertive other than getting the leg amputated. My father was not accepting that harsh reality. The doctor left the decision on me – if I want to stay alive or die. They showed me some positive videos as to how people who are without legs live their lives. Filly I got operated and after 15 days. When they unrolled my plaster a feeling kept pricking my heart that I’m a disabled. I was totally lost. Back home in Assam, I had to suffer a spell of negative vibes from neighbours. That made me an alcoholic.”

His father then sent him to their family business at Kaziranga tiol Park where some of his friends advised him to watch social media to know as to how people with disabilities get rehabilitated. He joined the social media in 2013, started chatting with many people and got his hope to get himself able to work. One of his friends informed him that Tularam Bafa Hospital, North Guwahati, uses to dote Jaipuri legs to people like him. He got a leg from the hospital and could walk. He paddled a ladybird bicycle for around 100 metres, one day. That led him to paddle bicycle at night without informing his family members. One day he met with an accident, leading him to be on the bed for a month.

“At last I had to undergo a professiol para-cycling course at Hyderabad for a month, paving the way for charity ride in different cities in India. I dote 50 per cent of the cash that comes through such shows. In 2015 while riding from Koliabor to Lakhimpur in 2015 I had to stay with a flood victim for a night because of the deluge. That made me realize as to how floods affect people. On August 20, 2016 with sponsorship from NRL I opted to a ride from India Gate in Delhi to Guwahati for the aid of flood victims. The closing ceremony for that was arranged by the Assam Chief Minister. I could dote Rs 50,000 to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. The ride took 15 days. So far I have paddled 27,000 km. I’m going for a ride to five countries – Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and India – for the protection of rhinos in Assam. I’ve got approval from the Prime Minister for the venture that’s going to be started in September this year. The venture will take two months.”