From wheelchair to Paralympics: Jhuma’s inspiring journey
"So what if I'm a person with disabilities?" said Jhuma Akhter, with sparks of defiance and confidence in her eyes, to anyone who ever doubted her.
Jhuma, a Bangladeshi para archer who on Thursday qualified for the Paris Paralympic Games to be held in this year's August-September, has already become an inspiration for persons with disabilities in Bangladesh with her rapid rise in the world of para archery.
But her inspirational story began with a tragic accident that changed the course of her life forever.
Narsingdi's Jhuma was living a normal life, preparing for her SSC exam with hopes of becoming a lawyer when an accident in 2018 completely derailed all of her plans.
She had climbed a litchi tree and sat on one of its branches, something she had done many times before. But on that fateful day, the branch she was sitting on snapped and she crashed to the ground, seriously injuring her spinal cord. After the fall, she lost the ability to walk and became wheelchair-bound.
"A lot of people said many horrible things. They said my life was over now, what would I do for the rest of my life, how would I get married and how would I continue my studies," Jhuma told the reporter in a recent interview in BKSP, holding back tears.
She covered her face for a bit to hide the tears but soon regained her composure and said, "Alhamdulillah, I'm really happy now. Earlier, I used to feel really bad that I couldn't walk, could't hang out with my friends anymore. But now, I'm completely engrossed in sports," said Jhuma.
Jhuma's life took a new turn when she was staying at the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP) in Savar where she discovered sports as a way to conquer her disability and also carry on with her studies.
Jhuma had started out with wheelchair basketball, but later she shifted her focus to archery. It didn't take her too long to become an expert at it and very quickly she caught everyone's attention. After the Bangladesh Para Archery Association (BPAA) began last year, she has been staying and training at the BKSP.
After just two-and-a-half months of training, she finished ninth in last year's Para Asian Games in China. She continued making waves with her performances, by competing against non-disabled women archers in the National Ranking Open Tournament and winning a bronze medal in the compound event.
"I can't express in words how it felt," Jhuma spoke about her emotions after winning bronze. "I competed against national-level archers and even beat them. It gave me a lot of confidence that I can do well in abroad as well."
So, on Thursday, when she punched her ticket to compete in the 50m individual compound event of the Paralympic Games, it wasn't exactly a surprise.
The para archer from Narsigndi credited her coach, BPAA president Kazi Rajib Uddin Ahmed Chapol and especially her mother for urging her on in her journey.
"My mother always encourages me in sports and in my studies. She tells me to never lose hope."
Many of Jhuma's teammates in the para archery team found solace in the sport after tragedy struck their lives much like her.
Rupali Akhter is one of them, who like many others in the team, got burdened with a life of disability after a road accident.
Rupali was taking her mother to the hospital when the accident happened. But the Recurve event player has put that terrible incident behind her by devoting all of her time to archery, "After learning the game, I fell in love with archery. Now, I'm busy all day. Here, we train alongside the BKSP students. So, I never feel that I'm a person with disabilities."
Khorshed Alam and Al-Amin Hossain from the men's Recurve para archery team have a similar story, as both injured their spinal cord after an accident but have now found a new lease in life with the sport.
Indian coach Nishith Das has been with para archery from the start and has been entrusted to lay the foundation of para archery in Bangladesh.
"The more they understand the game, the more interested they get. And I never imagined that Jhuma or Rupali would progress so much in such a short time!"
Jhuma has already started inspiring other archers, one of them being BKSP archery student Sumaiya Sultana Bithi.
"I used to complete in Recurve, but my scores weren't improving. Then I switched to Compound. When I saw Jhuma apu and others train hard while sitting down, it inspired me to work harder to improve. I felt that if they do it with just their hands and no legs, I have no excuse not to do it well."
Jhuma revealed that she strives to achieve new heights in para archery, not just for herself, but to set an example for persons with disabilities in Bangladesh.
"I want to inspire the ones who have disabilities like me. I want them to feel encouraged thinking if Jhuma can do so well in archery, we can also do it. I want them to feel that confidence and not consider themselves inferior in any way. I want them to not feel like they are a burden to the society."
Archery has given Jhuma the strength to endure sneers and overcome many obstacles laid in front of her as a person with disabilities. She now hopes that society will change its outlook on persons with disabilities. "Most people around me think that as I have a disability, I can't do anything, my life is over and I'm now a burden to my family and society. I want people to change their thinking and outlook. I want us to be considered as equals."