This may sound absolutely absurd, but I hope to groom 100 para-athletes. I dream about this day and night, and I’m determined to achieve it at any cost. My mission and zeal can be probably best described in Swami Vivekananda's words: "Arise Awake and Stop Not Till the Goal is Reached."
Before I take you through my journey, a quick glance at my life and its twist and turns.
I was brought up in a joint family along with 18 first cousins. It was a close-knit family, but I was the rebel. I was average at academics, and it led me to have differences with my parents.
From being a school dropout to becoming a successful garment trader at the age of 22, I had done it all. However, fate took a tragic turn one year later.
I was riding my bike and was on my way to meet my stocks manager when a bus rammed into me. I was thrown off my bike and dragged for a distance of about 200 metres. The horror didn't end there. The bus went over my right leg, despite my desperate efforts to save myself.
I lay on the road in a pool of blood for hours. Later, the owner of a nearby shop rushed me to the hospital.
Every day at the hospital was like living in hell. The trauma had just begun. The doctors said they had to amputate my leg as it was the only way to save me.
As days passed, I began to come to terms with the fact that I had to live the life of an amputee. With the help of my parents I got myself a prosthetic limb and focused on walking again. My only driving force those days were my father’s words, “You are not a bechara (useless person), You can do it”. These words kept me inspired and eventually initiated a new chapter in my life.
Cycling was close to my heart and I found my calling when I started cycling as an amputee. I just had one goal, to brave all odds. Each fall on the road to my first one-km ride made me stronger and kept me going. Eventually I found my purpose and decided to take up cycling professionally.
My first step towards my goal was to become India’s first amputee to ride 100 km. I did the same in 5.5 hours, thereby getting my name into the Limca Book of World Records in 2012.
That is one out of the six records I hold. Later, I represented India at the prestigious Asian Championship in 2013 and won two silver medals despite being in absolute pain and discomfort as my prosthetic limb got stuck in the spokes just before the Championship. I flew off the cycle and hurt my tailbone . But I remained undeterred.
My journey had just begun. I went on to cycle from London to Paris in 2013 and then from Manali to Khardung-La in 2014 – the highest motorable roadway in the world and the toughest ride of my life. I met many para-athletes during these rides and heard their stories of struggles, only to realise how fortunate I was with the support of my family and my mentors from Armed Forces, who were helping me with my expenses for the rides.
While I was contemplating ways and means to help deserving para athletes, I registered my organisation – the Aditya Mehta Foundation (AMF) in 2012 – and made my rides fundraisers to help those in need. I called each of my journey “Infinity Ride” and the money thus raised was used to aid para-sportspersons with potential.
The first Infinity Ride took place from Bangalore to Hyderabad and the next season I decided to scale the highest motorable road in the world, Manali to Khardung-La. The ride helped me raise funds which aided three athletes who went onto participate in the Asian Championship in Bahrain (2017) and resulted in bringing bronze, silver and gold medals to the country’s showcase.
This year, Infinite Ride in a bigger avatar will be flagged off on 9 August from Hyderabad and will culminate in Tirupati on 15 August. I am aiming to collect sizeable funds and need your support to help the Indian para-cyclist team among others to participate in the World Championships to be held in South Africa next month.
AMF came into existence three years ago and is the only platform which is relentlessly working to unearth and scout para-athletes who could go on to represent and bring laurels for India at global competitions. Athletes supported by the AMF have won a whopping 25 international medals for India in the last one and a half years.
The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and the BSF have come on board as partners and AMF has been working with soldiers since 2016. This year the CISF and the SSB have joined us to counsel these soldiers to add to the list of CAPF, BSF, ITBP and CRPF. I have been personally counselling, training and mentoring them to take up sports and get professionally trained.
With the building blocks set, my mission is to get India 100 para-athletes for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. As I work towards my ultimate goal, your support will make this a movement.
In order to empower our journey, and contribute and be a part of this revolution, log on to adityamehtafoundation.org.
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