2 days after mom's demise, amputee completes Mumbai half marathon

, Jan 20: Nothing can deter heroes from storming to success. At Sunday's Mumbai

, 37-year-old Major Dharmadutt Goel stunned the world by completing 21.09 km wearing a conventional artificial leg ! And it had just been two days since his 80-year-old ailing mother Manbasya passed away. Major allowed no grief, no disability come in his way.

A day after cremating her in his native place Pune, Goel joined Mumbai marathon, competing with younger, able-bodied people. He had forgotten his specially-designed prosthetic carbon fire leg at Pune home. Guess what he did - He strapped a conventional artificial leg and completed the half marathon in 2 hours 32 minutes!

"Some extraordinary power made me complete the run. I experienced tremendous pain after the 13th km, but I felt it was my mother goading me to run," Goel told Indian Express.

Barely four months after joining army, he lost his left leg in a mine blast during Operation Parakram at Gurez sector, 198 km from Srinagar.

Before joining army, he used to run a dhaba and then worked as a lecturer in a Mumbai college.

After he got fitted with an artificial leg at the Artificial Limb Centre (ALC) in Pune, he regain his spirit. He started doing paragliding, ballroom dancing, playing basketball and riding Bullet motorcycle for long expeditions.

Determined to participate in long-running, he began putting in hours of hard work at the Pune race course. Initially, artificial linmb caused troubles and he began to bleed and had to rest for three to four days and then commence training. However, what can stop a man who is determined to win the world? Goel, armed with perfect practice and a strong will-power hit the Mumbai streets on Sunday, to win people's hearts and make his mother proud.

Oneindia News