In 2014, he faced a crisis – an injury! And, his life came to a standstill when the doctors uttered: “You may never walk again.” But, this is not the end of his story. In fact, it was the beginning of an awe-inspiring journey of Odisha’s Wheelchair Basketball Team captain, Kamalakanta Nayak. He turned the crisis into an opportunity and stooped only to conquer the world. Today, he proudly holds the world record of covering the maximum distance of 215.4Km on a wheelchair in 24 hours. In a candid conversation with Sports Science India Fanzine, Nayak shares his inspirational comeback story. Here are some excerpts from the interview:
How did you get injured? How did life change thereafter?
“On December 21, 2014 I fell down while playing volleyball in my college. I tried to stand up myself, but couldn’t. I could feel an excruciating pain over my upper back. My friends massaged the back vigorously to relieve the pain. Later, they took me to the hospital on a motorcycle. The hospital was about 60kms from the college. The journey exerted more pressure on my spine as the road was not in a good condition. After thorough examination, the doctors told me that I won’t be able to walk anymore due to the fall and the vigorous massage. I thought of ending my life. But, my father and sister encouraged me to start playing the sport again by citing the example of Deepa Mallick, who had won a medal at
the Paralympics during the same time. This was certainly a ray of hope,” said Nayak.
How did the comeback journey commence?
When I started doing activities on my wheelchair, played basketball and volleyball, and tried wheelies, I uploaded some videos on Facebook. These videos were seen by the Delhi Wheelchair Basketball Team. This triggered their interest in my expertise. They said I was a good player, and called me to Delhi. I got trained there for 2 months and played for their team. But, then I realised that they didn’t provide me the status that I deserved because I belonged to a different state. I came back to Odisha for this reason. After my return, I visited SVNIRTAR where I met Dr. P P Mohanty and told him that I desired to play basketball and make a team there. He suggested that there were many spinal cord injury patients available at the state hospital and I could train them to be able to play. I started training them and now we have a separate Men’s and Women’s team playing Basketball. Currently, I am the Captain of the Men’s wheelchair basketball team and the coach for the Women’s wheelchair Basketball team.
However, I wasn’t satisfied. I took up wheelchair fencing. I have earned a gold medal for fencing on a wheelchair. But again, I wasn’t fully content because my specialty was racing and people reminded me of how I couldn’t walk anymore. Then, I dared to start wheelchair racing.
What motivated you to play basketball and move back to the courts?
I was motivated by my father’s words. He said: “Your present condition is due to your game. You got injured while playing, so it is better that you go back to the game.” We have a calendar for the annual racing events online. I register in the events without mentioning to them that I am a wheelchair dependent person. If I have to attend a marathon elsewhere, I spend the night at the railway station and attend the marathon in the morning and then catch the train the next morning. In a similar manner, I have participated in 100+ half marathons all over India as well as full marathons. I still had the desire to run on the track like others, but the wheelchair or tricycle I needed was too expensive. I couldn’t afford a wheelchair costing Rs 5 to 7 lakh.
I found out that someone had held a record at the Guinness Book of World records on wheelchair covering 184km within 24hours. I then had an urge to beat that person’s record. The lockdown due to COVID-19 was a boon for me because everything had been closed, including the roads at my area and that helped me to practice day and night. I continuously practiced and finally could break the record on January 15, 2022. I wrote a letter to the government officials mentioning my desire to get a wheelchair for the Paralympics.
