Asked to choose between paralysis and death, Deepa Malik delivers Paralympics Silver

Deepa Malik, mother of two, overcame a spinal tumour, 31 surgeries and 183 stitches to win India a Silver medal at the ongoing Rio Paralympics.
AP Photo
Highlights

• 1 Deepa Malik won silver in the women's shot-put F53 event
  
• 2 Malik is the first Indian woman to win a medal in Paralympics history
  
• 3 45-year-old Malik is the oldest in the Indian contingent in Rio to win a medal
  

For Deepa Malik, life has never been able to pose a challenge that could dim her spirit.
From getting operated upon when her husband was serving the nation in Kargil and getting 163 stitches between her shoulder blades, she has been a real life inspiration for years now. Having won sporting laurels at the international stage for close to a decade, the only medal missing from her repertoire was the Paralympic one. And at Rio, she has fulfilled her dream. Shotputter Deepa Malik bags historic silver at Rio Paralympics
Deepa has never been daunted by adversity. When told as a 26-year-old that her choice was between paralysis and death, anyone else would have had a meltdown. A budding sportswoman and cricketer for Rajasthan despite suffering paralytic shocks since the age of eight, Deepa, however, faced the impossibility of life head-on. Seven broken vertebrae and frequent MRI scans in the absence of titanium plates could not stop her from taking to throwing the javelin in 2006. Then it became the shot put, the event that has given her Paralympic glory in Rio. Deepa Malik elated after winning Silver at Rio Paralympics
Tasting success at the 2010 Para Asian Games, Deepa aspired to make a mark at the 2012 London Paralympics. However, she wasn't able to make it in the absence of a quota and that only resulted in strengthening her resolve. Rio had to happen. It was in a sense the climax of her journey. Having fought 19 long months to get a license as a rally driver in Maharashtra, Deepa knows how it is to be a para athlete in India. She knew the system wasn't conducive to getting her ready.
But it is never about the system in India, is it! Our athletes win despite the absence of a system. They win because they stand out.
It is absolutely essential to state in this context that our treatment of Mariyappan, Deepa and Varun and our sensitivity and affection showered on these three super achievers will go a long away to defining us as a 'people'.
Deepa in that sense is an opportunity for each of us. To redeem ourselves and stand up to the test of our own conscience. She is the best story of grit and determination that we can possibly have and is proof that never was it about facilities and infrastructure as it is often made out to be. It was always about will and the determination to succeed. It was about the fire in the belly and the conviction to make a mark at the biggest state of them all. Finally, it was about the burning desire to make the country proud.
Taking a cue from Sakshi Malik and PV Sindhu and now Thangavelu, Deepa and Bhati, Indian sports can take a giant leap in the next four years and redeem itself in Japan. Thangavelu and Deepa have proved beyond doubt that it is possible. Only we need to want it badly.