Marathons despite Hemiplegia
T
he record for completing the maximum number of half marathons by a person with Hemiplegia was set by Nihad Panju (born on September 25, 1990) from Mumbai, Maharashtra. He completed six half-marathons from 2012 to 2021 despite a left-sided Hemiplegia. Nihad Panju is a marathon runner. At the age of 5 months, Nihad was diagnosed with Tubercular Meningitis which left him with a left-sided Hemiplegia (partial paralysis caused by brain injury). His parents tried every possible conventional and alternative therapy and treatment available, but there was very little to no improvement and as years went by, they gradually accepted that a hurt brain cannot be fixed but there were ways to overcome obstacles that Nihad would face in life. At age 10, Nihad’s parents were introduced to the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential (IAHP), based in Philadelphia, which prescribed an extensive holistic neurological reorganization program. It addressed physical, intellectual, physiological, nutritional and neurological aspects and involved grueling 14hour workdays with no holidays. Nihad had to be taken out of school to accomplish this and worked tirelessly at the physically and mentally excruciating demands set by the program. The difference, however, was that he knew that the program was positively impacting his balance, coordination, vision, strength, speech and was motivated to pursue the regimen despite the exhaustion and pain he endured. After almost four and a half years on the program, Nihad had the confidence to re-join school. He completed his IGCSE and moved to Singapore to study Interactive Multimedia Design. To continue to improve his physical abilities, Nihad was given a running program. This included daily aerobic running. Running was essential for him to be fit and to improve his mobility. It was during this time that Nihad developed a life-long love of running and started dreaming of running marathons. Throughout the years when he was prepping to be a marathon runner, a lot of people told him that he would never be able to
succeed or lead a normal life. He believes that may have been the case had his friends and family not been around; continuously helping him to push boundaries and be the best that he can be. It was this motivational attitude that inspired him to run marathons. Nihad started his preparations with baby steps, running three rounds (1.2 kms) of the CCI grounds in Mumbai every day. Thanks to a brilliant trainer he was running 12-14 rounds of the stadium within a short time after which he was introduced to running on the road. In addition to the six half marathons in India and Singapore, Nihad has taken part in various events including the Tata Mumbai Marathon 10K (2019), the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon Dream Run (2018), Terry Fox Cancer Run (2017), the Devil’s Circuit (2019), the Standard Chartered Singapore Half Marathon (2017), the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon Half Marathon (2016), and Pune Running Beyond Myself - Adventures beyond Barriers (2016). Nihad believes that people must not allow any kind of disability to prevent them from any of their dreams. It is possible that with determination and hard work you can do anything you want to - even if you are told achieving something is impossible. If he can do it, anyone can. Nihad’s story is that of grit, perseverance, character, and resilience. Sachin Pillai’s film ‘Not Fragile’, has captured very intimate moments of Nihad’s challenging life on screen. His achievements in sports have given the world an identity to inspire from. India Book of Records | April 2022
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