Confined to wheelchair due to paralysis, Deepa Malik, who found a place in the Limca Book of Records for the third time recently for becoming the first paraplegic woman to reach world’s highest motorable road, has set her eyes on a medal in the upcoming London Paralympics.
Paralysed below chest because of three repeated spinal cord tumor surgeries resulting in 183 stitches on the upper spinal column, Malik (42) refused to give in to her physical limitations and undertook a journey to the world’s highest motorable road in Khardung La, in her customised Tata Safari car, making it the highest raid by a paraplegic woman.
With an elevation of 5,359 metre Khardung La, which is located in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, is one of the highest mountain passes in the world.
A senior official of Limca Book of Records, Arthy Muthanna Singh, spoke high about the indomitable courage of the woman.
Starting from Delhi, she along with co-driver Prateek Gahlaut, crossed nine high passes including difficult Zozilla pass, Changla pass, Khardung La pass, Tanglala pass, Nakeela pass, La Chungla pass, Baralacha La pass and the famous Rohtang pass enroute 3,000 km journey in 10 days.
What makes Deepa’s records even more extraordinary is that she has no bladder or bowel control and has no sensation in her body below chest level. She neither has the torso balance and only half her lungs inflate.
“Life is not over...disability is only a state of mind,” she said.
