Meet Abhishek Thaware who defied his destiny by becoming India’s first teeth archer.

He may have stopped running on a track, but in life, he’s racing at a fast pace. Abhishek was just one-year-old when his father had taken him to a hospital when he was suffering from fever. This was where he was given an infected injection and his right arm was afflicted with polio.

Despite his disability, Abhishek’s family decided to admit him to a regular school where he realized his love for sports. He started with athletics, wherein he won various medals, long-distance running being his favorite. Achieving all this was when he was participating in the normal category was certainly a huge feat. This is when he was spotted by Mr. Rajendra Khandal, who ran Adarsh Mandir — a sporting club. It was him who introduced Abhishek to cross-country running. For nine long years, he was a successful athlete where he kept on winning medals and would have gone on to become huge, that was until tragedy struck him again.

Sadly, in October 2010, while practicing for a state-level tournament, Abhishek injured his knee. A doctor operated upon it and advised him to avoid running. However, running was all Abhishek cared for, so disregarding the doctor’s advice, he still competed in the event. He even won a Bronze medal in the event, but little did he know that his knee would not allow him to run again.

But perhaps everything happens for a reason. And in Abhishek’s case, the reason was archery. Abhishek’s cousin, Sandeep Gawai, was an archer and he motivated Abhishek to join him. Abhishek was quite interested in the idea. “I didn’t know anything about archery before that, but once I tried it, it changed my life,” says Abhishek. He went on to win several state and national-level championships. It was quite a difficult training process though. “Since I didn’t have a right hand, I had to tie a string to the arrow and use my teeth to pull it while using my left hand to support the bow,” says Abhishek. When asked what he loves about the sport, he says, “Archery has given me something to look forward to in life. It is a game of patience and has taught me to keep in control many other aspects of my life.”

Besides archery, Abhishek has a keen interest in studying as well. He has completed a Masters in Social Science at DNC College, Nagpur, and further plans to do a Masters in Social Work.

Abhishek has already won many accolades. Abhishek is the first and only Para Archery Player with Silver Medal in Maharashtra State Archery Championship and now he dreams of taking part in the Paralympic Games in 2020. Abhishek, who has even represented Nagpur University for two years, is one of the most inspiring athletes who is a living example of someone for whom giving up was never an option.

Do let us know if you find such incredible stories around you and we would like to share their story with others.

Thanks for reading…