Meet Rachit Kulshrestha, An Ardent Adventurer Who Beat Cancer Twice To Live His Dreams

I lost my left arm to cancer at the age of five, but my father motivated me to pursue a normal life. He said, "If you want to do it, then go ahead and do it", which remained etched in my mind and heart and has given me the ability to pursue my passion.

As a child, I used to cycle to school every day and I played football. I played as a goalkeeper. People didn't think I could be a good goalkeeper because I had just one arm. During an inter-school match, I was called to the field as a substitute goalkeeper and I could see how overjoyed the opposition team was. They thought they won the match already. I proved them wrong by stopping four goals and making my team win by two points.

I started cycling again when I was 27 years old. I was then diagnosed with limping sarcoma and got a foot drop [a kind of nerve paralysis which makes it difficult in lifting the front part of the foot] in my right leg.

I am an ardent adventure enthusiast and highly skilled single-handed cyclist. I have cycled from Manali to Khardung La—one of the world's highest motorable roads at 18,000 ft., toured the Nilgiris (across three states) in just 6 days and completed the 200km and 300km BRM in April and May 2019 respectively.

I completed my graduation in Arts from Pune University and have worked in the post-production team of movies like Avengers, Zero etc. In June 2019, I was invited to be on the Super Idol Panel—Stories of Change and Empowerment, at the Sarthak NAAI West Zone Regional Abilympics, Mumbai. I also worked for an NGO called Adventures Beyond Barriers Foundation, which brought abled and disabled bodies together and conduct adventure events. You can hire me for an event and for motivational talks here.

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