Peshawar Warriors: A game lost, a battle won

Runners-up at country’s first wheelchair sporting event talk to The Express Tribune

PESHAWAR:

“For the first time in the last nine months, I had a sense of purpose in life. I realised I am in no way inferior to anyone,” said Khalid Khan, frontline batsmen of Peshawar Warriors, the runner-up team at the country’s first wheelchair cricket mega-event held in Karachi last month. They were defeated by the Mirpur Khas team in the final.

Khalid’s role was instrumental as his underequipped and underprepared team soldiered its way to the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy’s final. The squad of 14 players and management staff participated in the tournament held between May 17 and 19.

Only a year ago, the batsman was leading a completely different life. A terror attack at Bacha Khan Chowk in the provincial capital left the Motorway Police employee with T6 spinal injuries (affecting the trunk and legs) and a lifetime of despair. He has not been able to move his torso or lower body for the past nine months and doctors informed him he might never. Khalid is currently being treated at the Paraplegic Centre Hayatabad; preparing to overcome his physical impairment. “It was less physical and more mental for me,” he told The Express Tribune, adding the incident shattered his self-view and any aspirations he had for the future.

While still looking for answers, Khalid joined the ranks of Peshawar Warriors – an opportunity that gave him a new lease of life and rekindled his love for the sport. The team practiced for only four days before leaving for Karachi. “Coming this far in a national-level competition somewhat helped me overcome the nine-month trauma.”

With the tournament knocking on the door, the penniless cricket team was clueless about raising funds for the trip to Karachi. The skipper Engineer Irfanullah did not lose hope, despite the odds. He wrote to every welfare organisation he could, requesting help.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the International Committee of Red Cross respond to our sponsorship proposal,” the captain said, adding the confirmation from Geneva made it possible for him to piece together a squad that would live up to its name. “Had it not been for the ICRC, we would have never dreamt of flying to Karachi to represent Peshawar, let alone reach the tournament final,” he said.

Fighting back

The skipper himself has a riveting story to tell. Irfanullah was a digital satellite news gathering (DSNG) engineer working with the state-owned television network. While en route to the federal capital to see the then PTV MD in 2009, Irfanullah met with an accident. He suffered spinal injuries (T12 and L1) in the incident. The company offered to sponsor his treatment but he soon found out his impairment was permanent.

However, the mishap failed to pin him down as he went on to become an accomplished wheelchair sportsperson. Presently Irfanullah is the national champion of wheelchair tennis and reached the tennis quarter finals at the 2014 Asian Para Games in South Korea.

The ICRC reached out to the team through its sub-delegation office in Peshawar and funded the squad’s equipment, travel and food expenses. When contacted, ICRC sub-delegation head Mirjam Lea Mueller said the agency is committed to facilitating differently-abled people across all its centres in the country.

“Life does not end for those who are permanently injured and we need to give them hope,” Mueller said. The agency has always come to the aid of spirited individuals like those in the Peshawar Warriors team,
added Mueller.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2015.