Shams Aalam- A Paraplegic Hero

July 17, 2018

Shams Aalam was born on July 17th, 1986 in Rathos village of Madhubani district in Bihar. His early life was quite a normal one with a strong inclination towards sports. Shams Aalam, at six moved to Mumbai along with his brother for better education, where he developed interest in Karate, further representing his Academy and India in it and even winning a black belt. After his graduation in B.Tech, he started working in a company in Mumbai.

However, life had something else in store for him. He went for a normal check up on doctor’s advice after he discovered some problems in his body. A mild tumour was detected on his spinal cord. He underwent a minor surgery to remove the tumour which failed. Describing the ordeal, he states that the spinal cord injury, which left him paralysed below the chest, was due to the negligence of the doctors as they did not operate the tumour but something else, further worsening the situation.

It was a tough situation for him but he acted tougher. He regained his confidence when he went to a paraplegic rehabilitation center. Being around people like him made him believe that he too can achieve something big in life. Hence he started swimming again. His hard work and strong determination paid off at the 2014 National Championships where he won four gold medals, along with being awarded as the best Para Swimmer. Later, he swam 8kms in 4 hours and 4 minutes in the open seas of Goa, which earned him a name in the Limca Book of World Records. He even wanted to take his achievement to the Guinness Book of World Records but due to insufficient funds, he could not.

Shams Aalam was selected for a five week immersion program, Global Sports Mentorship Program 2018, which was initiated by the US department of State. A total of 18 delegates were selected from all over the world to be trained in America. The training worked as a confidence boost for him. He received an alumni certificate from the institution which has made him eligible for grants from the foundation whenever any sporting event is organized by him for the people with disability.

Presently, Shams his focused on his games and is preparing to represent India in the 2020 Paralympics. After that, he aims at bringing “Accessibility through Sports”. He wishes to take this programme to rural India, starting from his home district of Madhubani. Talking about the same, he says “I want to tell the kids with disability that it’s not the end of the road. Through sports and other activities you can change the perception of the people about you. So get out there, the world is waiting for you”.

Shams Aalam strongly believes that the present generation might not benefit from what he aims at achieving, but the future generations definitely will, and ultimately the nation would benefit from it.
Team SwachhAbility appreciates him for his humble thoughts and wishes him all the very best so that he continues achieving great things in life.

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