Only way is up: How I turned my life around after injury

My life was going well before I met with a train accident and lost my right leg while travelling from Kanpur to Prayagraj (then Allahabad). In the wake of this painful and dispiriting experience, everyone would demotivate me by saying ‘He can’t do anything’. But I decided to answer them by doing something big. And I chose cycling.

After three months of bed rest, I totally took to the activity, and set my first record while riding a non-gear bike from Kanpur to Delhi, a record that was entered into the India Book of Records (https://indiabookofrecords.in/first-interstate-cycling-expedition-by-a-differently-abled/). Having reached my destination, however, it felt as if the achievement didn’t amount to much. So, I aimed for something bigger—to travel from Kanpur to Mumbai, a distance of some 1,500 kilometres that I decided to cover in five days. After two years of practising 100km every day, I undertook this expedition, completing it successfully within the set timeframe by riding 300km continually for five days straight. After arriving at journey’s end, my name was included in the International Book of Records (https://www.internationalbookofrecords.com/records/longest-distance-cycling-with-a-prosthetic-limb.)

I am the first Indian to win a gold medal in the Asian Para Track Cycling Championships (Google ‘Cyclist Akshay Singh’!), in 2021. Then I got married and started a job in the corporate sector, though this meant I could not find the time to pursue my passion for cycling. So, I switched to travel, and ended up covering the complete Devbhoomi trek in Uttarakhand by car, before turning my attention to Himachal Pradesh, where I visited Shimla, Kufri, Narkanda and Kali Tibba. I have also covered two of the Jyotirlingas and plan to cover all 12 and the Char Dham sites in a single trip.

I want to motivate all those who have met a similar fate to mine, and let them know that their life doesn’t end because of injury. I want to inspire others into embracing life anew, and living it to the fullest—as indeed I have done.