How a spinal injury couldn’t stop Ranikhet athlete Garima Joshi’s olympic dream

Ranikhet: Garima Joshi once ran with the Olympics in her eyes. A road accident on May 31, 2018, took away her ability to walk, but not her will to compete.

The young athlete from Ranikhet in Almora district was forced to give up running – the sport she had trained for years – after a vehicle hit her while she was standing by the roadside, leaving her with a severe spinal cord injury. After her operation, doctors told her father that the chances of her walking again were “zero.””For a minute, I was silent. It felt as though my dream of competing at the Olympic level had been shattered,” Garima recalls.

But the silence didn’t last long.”I accepted the reality in a short time and started thinking about the future. I did not want to give up. My family and friends gave me strength, and I began exploring the world of para-sports,” she says.That resolve turned a runner into a thrower.

Garima’s tryst with athletics had started in childhood, inspired by watching her brother practise karate. She chose running and made her first international appearance at a competition in Ahmedabad in 2013. The track remained her life until the accident changed everything.

The transition was far from easy. She had to cope with rehabilitation, the emotional trauma of her injury, and learn entirely new skills – javelin throw, discus throw and shot put – all from her wheelchair.”The journey from being an athlete to becoming a para-athlete was not easy. There were physical limitations, emotional challenges and rehabilitation. There were moments when continuing seemed difficult, but I chose not to give up,” she says.

Her resilience was tested again less than a year after the accident, when her mother Asha Joshi, her biggest inspiration, passed away on March 4, 2019.”I had not even come to terms with the pain of my accident when I lost my mother. She was a great source of inspiration for me,” Garima says.

Despite the double blow, she did not quit. She established herself in the F55 category of para-athletics and went on to win medals at both national and international competitions in discus, javelin and shot put.

Her journey has also made her acutely aware of the hurdles para-athletes face.”Para-athletes have to struggle a great deal,” she says, adding that many get little support from families who fear further injuries or accidents. “I was fortunate that my family stood by me,” she says, as she continues to chase the dream that began on the track – now from the throwing circle.