Shalini Saraswathi, 39, is an adventurer who loves participates in marathons. She is a quadruple amputee and a blade runner. Shalini is also a motivational speaker and DGM at a multinational company in India.
Shalini was not born as a quadruple amputee but an unfortunate turn of events in her life made her so at the age of 32. Many people in her place would have gone into depression and lost all hopes in life but Shalini fought like a real hero and emerged victorious in her battle of life. Her journey, from surviving multiple organ failures to the participant of marathons, is truly inspiring. Shalini Saraswathi has proved Nothing is Impossible; If there’s a Will, there’s a Way!!
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Shalini’s Early Life
Shalini Saraswathi has been born and brought up in Bangalore, India. She studied at St. Mary’s Girls’ High School, Banglore and Mount Carmel College of Bangalore. Shalini loved to dance. She had a beautiful life before falling fatally sick. She was happily married, had a decent job and pregnant with her first baby when the tragedy striked.
The Tragedy
After celebrating her wedding anniversary in Cambodia in 2013 Shalini and her husband were happily returning to India. She was also overjoyed because of being pregnant. She had a mild fever while she was in Cambodia. After returning home, her fever suddenly became high. At first, the doctors declared it as dengue. However, later on, it was diagnosed that Shalini had an acute Rickettsial – a rare bacterial infection. During the course of treatment, Shalini lost her baby and suffered a lot both physically and mentally. As gangrene attacked her, she suffered multiple organ failures. She first lost her left arm. Soon she lost her right hand and both her legs as well.
Fighter, Winner, Survivor-Real Hero
Shalini Saraswathi became a quadruple amputee losing both her hands and legs in the tragedy but she did not lose hope. In 2014, she once again got back on her feet using prosthetic legs. She practiced using her ‘new’ legs and started walking again in December 2014. Shalini was aware of the society’s attitude towards a differently abled person like herself. People around her showed her sympathy which she hated. She wanted to prove herself. She started her training under Coach BP Aiyappa. She practiced walking 90 minutes a day. The training session used to be really tough for her. But Shalini was determined to survive it all. After two years of rigorous training, Shalini finally managed to run half marathon at TCS 10k race in Banglore.
Shalini wants to continue running as long as she can as it gives her a sense of freedom and she can inspire many others like herself through it. She also believes in feeling beautiful and confident in your body. She gives the message of staying the way you are and to love yourself to all those girls who are obsessed with looking beautiful and lack confidence due to some minor problems like being underweight or overweight. Shalini is undoubtedly a Wonderful Woman and I salute her!
“I feel great while I run. It gives me motivation. I want to do bigger and participate in marathons across the world,” Shalini Saraswathi
Wow, This is such an amazing story. I can’t believe she ran a half marathon. It is so nice to see someone take the tragedies in life and succeed to helps others. I am so glad that she is a motivational speaker because she is truly a wonderful woman.
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