Life is unpredictable. We never know when the biggest curveball would be thrown our way, and if we will be able to maneuver through it and come out a winner. Hawaldar Raju Rawat of 56 Engineer unit of the Indian Army was posted in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh and was a celebrated canoe player in Army before life took a you turn on him a few years ago.

Hailing from Uttarakhand, Raju became a well known name after he was selected to represent India in the Asian Games finale in 2014. But things changed in 2015 when Raju was diagnosed with cancer following a bout of pain and discomfort.

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Recalling the time of his diagnosis her told TOI, “I had started feeling the pain after coming back from Asia Games but could not gauge about the problem. I even attended national championships and won gold medal.”

Post the diagnosis, Raju decided to recover before moving any further as a canoe player. Raju stood out of the games for the next two years, and shifted to New Delhi to get treated at the Army Hospital in the city. He finally beat cancer and got back into the sport last year in 2018.

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Raju gave credit to the army and his coach for their support and encouragement, that helped him to recover and get back on his feet. Raju told TOI that, ““Without their support and encouragement, I would have never made a comeback.”

As on Sunday, Raju has won two bronze medal for our country in the International Canoeing Championship which had 13 participating countries. He won under the 500m C-2 and 200m C-2 category.

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Raju's journey is inspiring, because not only did he fight in the face of death, but he came out a winner, and reclaimed his former glory as a trusted national level player. The army is thoroughly impressed by Raju display of valour and they have started sending him to schools and colleges to give motivational speeches.

The army coach has just one thing to give credit to for Raju's success, “He is an army man and such courage is very common in army,'' said the coach, and we totally agree!