SETBACKS NOTWITHSTANDING, SHE HAS WORKED HER WAY UP

GARIMA JOSHI CAN BRING LAURELS TO COUNTRY IF YOU DECIDE TO HELP

This tall and wiry girl, standing 5′ 6″ in her socks, was a budding middle and long distance runner and a good hoopster (basketball player) when a speeding car hit the then 18-year-old in a Karnataka town dashing her dreams of a super bright future to the ground.

Garima Joshi had gone to Kudremukh, the iron ore town of the Southern State, to participate in TCS 10km run when during a morning jog a car nearly ran her over. She had stopped at a bend on a foggy morning in 2018 to tie her laces when the mishap took place!

Her treatment over a year cost her father, a driver, nearly ₹ 30 lakhs. During this period she lost her mother to cancer and father Puran Chand Joshi had to forgo his job. A roadside dhaba which Mr Joshi started in a shack had to close down in subsequent years due to Covid. Garima, however, has still not given up!

Setbacks notwithstanding the never-say-die spirit of this brave girl made her continue with her passion – athletics and basketball. Help from people of various hues has kept the ball rolling for her.

“If I’m able to perform all my daily chores it is thanks to Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, its doctors and its Chairman Maj HPS Ahluwalia. Legendary Ahluwalia sir, whom the country lost on Jan 17 this year,  waived over ₹ 4 lakhs on my treatment and that of my mother” Grima recalls sadly. Mother too was admitted in the same hospital!

Back to sports Garima posted distinct performances in Himalayan Rani, Super Sikh run and Airtel Half Marathon, winning the last two. Simultaneously she made her mark on the national wheelchair basketball circuit winning accolades.

Today in discus throw she has been registering throws that could fetch her a medal in this year’s Para Asians. Javelin is the other event she can fetch laurels for India.But to get a category assigned she has to participate in one of the Para Grand Prix events of world circuit happening between March 21 to 29 this year. The entry has to be decided by the Paralympics Committee of India headed by Olympian Deepa Malik, her role model besides the late Maj Ahluwalia! If not Sao Paulo in Brazil, it has to be in Tunis (Tunisia), Italy or France.

Last year Garima had deposited ₹ 1.05 lakh to PCI for having been selected for Tunisia. But her entry was cancelled at last moment. The amount for boarding, lodging, airfare, Visa fees , sports kit and incidental charges like local transport for self and an escort is much more is much more this time.

Friends, last week my request for helping  Garima resulted in a lukewarm response. She is performing in the F-55 category. But she has been logging better performances in F-52 and F-53. With her current form she can give us a podium finish in one or more events, in this Para Asians. Hence this appeal again! Help her realise her dream. Pl contribute

Send your help to:

Bank Name – SBI Chiliyanaula Ranikhet, Almora

Account Number – 35305115611

IFSC code – SBIN0009073