When Raj Patel, 11, a student of the fifth standard finished first in the juniors category of the endurance race held in Ambdo village near Gandhinagar, his family, friends and onlookers erupted in joyous celebration, cheering the young boy for his achievement.
But only few knew that this little champ had also triumphed in the greatest endurance test that life had in store for him.
For, Raj, who has taken part in several such races across the state and dreams of being a jockey, had taken a fall from a horse which left him completely paralysed. Raj fell from a horse the very first time he insisted on riding one!
"We had just bought a mare and he insisted on riding it. At that time he was just three and a half-year-old. Because he was being so stubborn about it, we let him sit on it while we stood at a distance. To our horror he fell off the mare," said Hiren Patel, father of Raj, who runs a farm and a dhaba.
The father said that the fall blocked the main nerve connecting Raj's spinal cord and brain. "My son couldn't move any part of his body. We rushed him to a neurosurgeon who said he would never walk. But we never gave up hope and consulted a paediatric neurologist," said Patel.
Patel said his son was given electric shocks as part of the treatment and was also administered medicine apart from regular physiotherapy.
"It was a nightmare for us because there was no guarantee, that even after all this Raj would ever walk. But after 2 and half years of taking the fall, Raj learnt to walk again," said Hiren Patel.
However, true to his avowed hobby, the first thing that Raj insisted on doing after recovering is to learn how to ride! "He had never given up hope of riding one day. He still insists on being a jockey. Initially, I was scared but have now resigned myself to the fact that he loves riding," said Patel. He said Raj's mother and grandmother still worry about him but to no avail.
Narensinh Parmar, who taught him how to ride, says Raj loves horses. "Once he is atop a horse he forgets everything. You have to see him with his horse to realise his passion for horse riding."
The trainer said Raj has in all won some five championships in the juniors' category. "In fact he came directly from a competition in Pune to take part in the endurance race," said Patel.
