Virat will triumphs over disability

Twenty-seven-year-old Rajiv Virat is a man on a mission. Not even multiple sclerosis (MS), which he was diagnosed with in 1999 and which left him wheelchair-bound, has come in the way of his aspirations.

On Sunday, Virat participated in the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2009, representing the Multiple Sclerosis Society of India (MSSI), and came in third in the wheelchair category. “I want to tell people to stop cribbing and start acting,” he said. 

A resident of Delhi — he is a three-time Delhi Marathon winner in the wheelchair category — Virat works as a wheelchair skills instructor. “I teach people on wheelchairs daily life skills, like the use of adaptive equipment, basic things like how to get up from a wheelchair and shift to a bed, and how to use a wheelchair to get around without help,” Virat said. “There is an acute need for professionals who can help disabled persons cope.”

At 18, Virat was set to become a professional soccer player, when MS struck. “I never imagined I would have to give up soccer; I was devastated. But I realised that my first passion, sport, could still be an integral part of my life,” said Virat, who now plays wheelchair tennis.

Virat has also travelled to the Himalayas. “With other disabled persons, I drove a specially designed hand-driven Maruti 800 all the way across Rohtang pass to Ladakh.”
What’s next? “Another visit to Mumbai, to help others like me,” said the sprightly youngster.