Haryana's Sandeep Dangi Smashes Paralysis To Bag Khelo India Para Games Table Tennis Bronze

Sandeep Dangi was once destined for an academic journey leading to a promising future in pursuit of a PhD.

In a world where life's unpredictable turns often rewrite destinies, Haryana's Sandeep Dangi's narrative stands as a testament to resilience, courage, and an unyielding spirit that refuses to be defined by circumstances. A Para Asian Games bronze medallist at Hangzhou 2023, Dangi, who won bronze medal in the Class-1 category of the table tennis at the inaugural Khelo India Para Games, was once destined for an academic journey leading to a promising future in pursuit of a PhD. But fate charted an unforeseen path for the 36-year-old, who holds both BTech and MTech degrees.

A near-fatal car accident in 2016 altered the course of Sandeep Dangi's life dramatically. He was left 90% paralyses with an uncertain future staring at him. But Dangi showed the power of the mind to not only adjust to his new way of life but also make the nation proud.

The pivotal figure in Sandeep's journey of resurgence is his father, Surinder Singh Dangi, a former chief boxing coach at Sports Authority of India (SAI). Together, they navigated through the darkest phase of Sandeep's life, where the most formidable challenge was not physical, but mental. He needed to unlearn.

This meant letting go of 29 years of knowing what it was to live as an able-bodied individual. From being independent to relying on assistance for the smallest chores, Sandeep faced a paradigm shift in existence yet his spirit remained unbroken.