Braveheart blade-runner battles odds

What should have been a great vacation nearly turned tragic but, if anything, she turned it around with her supreme sense of grit and single-minded determination to battle all odds. Bengalurean Shalini Saraswathi embodies the spirit of a fighter in its true sense.

A quadruple amputee after a Cambodian vacation went horribly wrong, Shalini didn’t wallow in self-pity, but instead chose to plunge back into life with renewed purpose. From a serious affliction four years ago to running the TCS World 10K Run last week on prosthetics showed Shalini’s a cut above the rest. In battling extreme difficulties.

“I thought I would be exhilarated, but at the end of it (the 10K run) I just wanted to sleep. But in retrospect, it’s great. I had a lot of people message me on WhatsApp and Facebook and that’s a powerful thing. It felt good to help others in some form,” said Shalini, looking back on her effort where she finished in just over two hours. “I’m very disappointed with the timing. I wanted to do it in an hour-and-a-half and I did it a few times in practice too. But for whatever reason it didn’t happen.”

Her life took a serious turn four years ago when she was infected by a rare bacteria, Rickettsial with morts, which was initially thought to be dengue by the doctors here after a holiday in Cambodia.

In the course of the next few months, she had a miscarriage, both legs and her left hand amputated while her right hand just fell off. She even suffered multiple-organ failure during this time.

Shalini tried ayurveda as a recourse and it helped her to an extent.

If there is one word that defines Shalini, it’s fighter. She soldiered on amidst all her woes with her husband Prashanth Chowdappa by her side. And the first step for that was to get healthy.

With immense heart and drive fuelling the self-critic in her, Shalini showed the world what grit and determination can do. And she has these qualities in abundance.

“It was clear for me that I wanted to get back to my life so when I got my prosthetics in 2013, I wanted to walk. We tried a lot of trainers but they didn’t know what to do. Then we met B.P. Aiyappa two years ago. He said ‘I’m not sure what we can do but let’s try’.”

“In the beginning I had no stamina or body balance. I had to work hard to make it feel like an extension of my body. Now that has all changed,” revealed the former Mount Carmel College student.

“It was my coach’s idea to run the 10K. We’ve talked about it for six months and had to make a lot of sacrifices for it, so I’m glad that it’s done and dusted. For me it was about taking control of my body,” added Shalini, who’s deputy GM at Firstscource Solutions.

Shalini, who has her roots firmly at Kollam district in Kerala, is an inspiration to many. Be it her ability to face of adversity or her general outlook towards life which is to take it on the chin and face trouble head on. But most of all, it’s the sense of peace, acceptance and excitement of what lies ahead that makes her stand out. “I’ll continue to run. It gives me joy and provides me with wings. Let’s see where life takes me,” she remarked excitedly.

There are always new mountains to conquer after all.