Olympian Rahi Sarnobat opens up on battle with neuropathic pain syndrome

New Delhi: The two-time Olympian pistol shooter Rahi Sarnobat, who has made a comeback to the sport at the National Games this year in Dehradun after a serious health battle, opened up on her recent battle with neuropathic pain syndrome and how now she is focusing on her Olympic medal dream.

The 34-year-old won the gold medal in the women’s 25m air pistol competition at the National Games.

Rahi’s health issues began in 2022 when the Maharashtra shooter was packing for the national camp for the World Championships. She found herself facing hot flashes and nerve pain. After weeks of feeling sensations all over her body, causing her tremendous pain, Rahi found herself being on bed rest, unable to find a diagnosis.

“We did not know which doctors to go - we did ECG, cardio testing, routine tests - but everything was fine. Still, I was feeling terrible. I started feeling my neck pain, that I could not lie on bed and I had to sit and sleep for months. My medical team suggested consulting a neurologist,” Rahi revealed on the House of Glory podcast.

After weeks of neurological testing, Rahi was diagnosed with neuropathic pain. Giving more details about her symptoms, the pistol shooter said, “Neuropathic pain syndrome has no fixed pattern and no fixed line of treatment. It depends on case-to-case and the medical history of every person. It makes it even more scary.

“I was sleeping for 17-20 hours for months. I was just staring at the ceiling for months. I could not live my normal life. I felt the fear about being uncertain. You don’t know when the incident just happened for certain months,” she added.

This was not the first time Rahi had to make a comeback to the sport in her career. Earlier, in 2014 she suffered a freak hairline fracture in the elbow of her shooting arm that took seven months to recover from and many more to begin shooting.

She made her comeback from there, going on to win gold in the 2018 Asian Games and compete in her second Olympics in Tokyo in 2021. Now, this time, after making a comeback, she went on to win a close battle against her fellow shooter Simranpreet Kaur to claim the top prize at the National Games. IANS

Also Read: Mitchell Marsh re-signs with Perth Scorchers for three years

Also Watch: