Hyderabad: From having his Army service cut short by a debilitating injury to leading the wheelchair basketball team of Maharashtra, the story of K. Nagi Reddy, a native of Mahbubnagar, is nothing less than extraordinary.
Mr Reddy’s was seriously injured during a field firing exercise in 1997. Since then he has been living at the Defence Department’s Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre in Pune and has been a part of the state’s wheelchair basketball team.
He will be in the city to participate in the Fourth National Wheelchair Basketball Tournament in the first week of November.
Speaking to this paper from Pune, Mr Reddy said, “I lost both my limbs and sensation below my chest during a field firing at Pokhran Range in 1997. My control over my bladder and bowels weakened, and the incident left me permanently confined to a wheelchair. I was introduced to sports as part of my rehabilitation; my journey with sports began in 2001. I took up basketball without knowing that it would bring me international recognition.
“Our team practises for an hour every day; and three if there’s a tournament. Sports has brought back what I lost. I will be in Hyderabad for the wheelchair basketball tournament, and this will also allow me to meet my family in Mahbubnagar.”
Apart from wheelchair basketball, Mr Reddy, who has chosen not to marry, also practises shotput, javelin throw, discus throw and swimming.
Moved by the story of this ex-serviceman, the Governor of Telangana state has approved a monetary grant of Rs 4,000 per month as per the recommendations of the Telangana State Sainik Welfare Board.
