‘Sport gave Sheetal Devi new lease of life after teaching dreams took back seat’

New Delhi: Born without arms, Sheetal Devi would use her feet to climb trees. But little did she know that the childhood habit was acting as the spadework in laying a strong foundation for future success.

The practice of climbing tress in her village in Jammu and Kashmir strengthened her core muscles and helped her in becoming a trailblazing para archer, who recently became the world number one in women’s compound archery open category.

Before getting hooked on to sport, she was dreaming of becoming a teacher. She could not become one, but the 16-year-old is certainly giving life lessons to many.

Sheetal was born without arms because of a condition called Phocomelia. It’s a rare congenital deformity in which the hands or feet are attached close to the trunk with the limbs being underdeveloped or absent.

Her life changed when she went to Bengaluru to get prosthetic arms and met with Preethi Rai, the founder of storytelling start-up, ‘Being You’.

Preethi tried her best to get Sheetal artificial arms but it didn’t work out as her shoulders couldn’t bear the weight of the prosthetics.