Special athlete Rakesh Bagh's luck seems to be running out when he needs it the most.
The 24-year-old, a resident of city's Sitaramdera locality, could not join his mates Sital Sikka (East Singhbhum) and Rahul Kumar Sharma (Giridih) who left for Bilaspur (Himachal Pradesh) on Friday to attend the national floorball preparatory camp scheduled from March 6-11. This is the second time the special athlete has missed a camp.
Abhiranjan Kumar (Ranchi) and Himanshu Giri (Jamshedpur) are accompanying the special athletes as coach and manager, respectively.
"Rakesh's parents informed us in writing that they will not allow their son to attend the national camp. Rakesh's injury has aggravated and he was still limping. We, on our part, were against taking any risk whatsoever since the issue involves a special athlete. But we feel sad as this is the second time that Rakesh has missed the national camp. He is a good floorball player and stood a positive chance of getting selected in the Indian squad for the Special Olympics World Winter Games scheduled to be held in Kaza, Russia from January 22 to 28, 2022," Special Olympics Jharkhand (SOJ) assistant area director Satbir Singh Sahota said.
Notably, Rakesh missed the national powerlifting camp for Special Olympics World Winter Games in 2019 (in Abu Dhabi) as he fractured his collar bone after falling down from his bike.
It is the final preparatory camp in Bilaspur after which the national side for the World Games will be selected.
Rakesh injured his left leg after a recent road mishap. He fell down from his bike and suffered an injury. Though the athlete attended a short camp in Jamshedpur, he was seen limping and complained of pain, casting doubts over his participation in the national camp.
The SOJ had specifically asked parents of intellectually impaired to not allow their wards to drive bikes but Rakesh's parents did not pay heed.
Sahota informed that the passports of the athletes has been prepared and they had been asked to leave Jamshedpur with their aadhar card and other relevant documents.
