After a lifetime of struggle, Mariyappan is first Indian to win medal in 3 successive Paralympics
CHENNAI: Mariyappan Thangavelu was five years old when he met with an accident and lost the lower part of his right leg. If that was not enough, a few years later, Mariyappan's father Thangavelu abandoned his family and extreme poverty followed. But the boy from Periyavadagampatti village in Salem refused to give up, sought refuge in athletics, and is now one of the most decorated para-athletes of the country.
