Once shot by terrorists, Army Major dreams to represent India in shooting

What exactly is courage? Or who is courageous?

Courage is the strength or willpower one possesses to face the gravest of all situations without flinching one bit, and the one who has such quality is called courageous.

One such individual with immense courage, one who has overcome all the odds thrown at him, is Major Manish Singh. His inspiring journey starts in the year 2012 from somewhere in the Kupwara district of the then state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Singh was a lieutenant with the Indian Army during those times. He was, in fact, the troop commander of the 9th Battalion of Parachute Regiment. It was 25th September 2012 when Singh along with the squad was tasked to track escaping terrorists in the Kupwara district.

Major Manish Singh dreams to represent India

In the process of doing the same, one of the terrorists opened indiscriminate firing and shot Singh at his spinal cord, severely injuring him. The Lieutenant though refused to budge and as the terrorist advanced towards him, he shot him dead!

The injury was so bad that Singh was immediately rushed to a hospital in Srinagar and then to Delhi where he underwent several surgeries without much success. It was at the Neurogen Brain and Spine Institute in Nerul that Singh underwent Stem Cells Therapy (SCT) and recovered a bit.

Singh was honored with the Shaurya Chakra and was soon promoted to the rank of Captain and then Major for his service to the country.

Now in between all of this, when did the shooting happen to him?

The story goes that Singh was inspired after meeting one of India’s star para-athlete, Deepa Malik. With immense courage and the determination to succeed, Singh took up shooting and became the first shooter with disability to train at the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) at Mhow – the same place from where emerged the likes of Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and various other shooters who have represented India at the global level.

Specialising in the paraplegic category of 10m air pistol, Singh hopes to represent India at the international level and make the country proud.

With all that he has went through, one thing which can be said for sure is, ‘Major Manish Singh is the epitome of courage and resilience’.