Fifteen special wheelchairs costing Rs1 lakh each have been imported from the US. The chairs are expected at the centre early next week.
Wheelchair-bound quadriplegic soldiers at the Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre (PRC) in Khadki will soon be playing rugby. Fifteen special wheelchairs costing Rs1 lakh each have been imported from the US. The chairs are expected at the centre early next week.
This was disclosed to DNA by Lt Col (retd) SP Jyoti, medical director, PRC, on the sidelines of World Disabled Day celebrations held at the centre on Saturday.
According to Jyoti, army chief Gen VK Singh had declared 2011 as the ‘Year of the disabled soldier’ and had agreed to donate 15 special chairs to the PRC to start a rugby programme for quadriplegic soldiers.
In the past, basketball teams of paraplegic soldiers from the PRC have won laurels for the institute in national and international tournaments.
Major (retd) Mahesh Bisht, PRC’s administration officer, himself a paraplegic, said that the rugby programme was a welcome move considering that quadriplegic soldiers were hitherto not involved with sports.
“We paraplegic soldiers are lucky to play active basketball. However, quadriplegic soldiers have not been so lucky. The induction of the special chairs next week will enable them to learn rugby and play the sport. It will boost their morale,” Bisht said.
According to Bisht, the special rugby chairs, would be lower than normal wheelchairs, enabling the quadriplegics to touch the floor easily. There will also be protective steel rods in front of the chair which will protect the limbs. He said that rugby was being played by 22 quadriplegic teams across the world and India would join this exclusive club very soon.
Jyoti said that once the chairs were assembled next week, the rugby practice would begin immediately. “Our boys are eagerly waiting for the action to begin,” Jyoti said.
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