This 11-year-old visually impaired boy swims across river to raise awareness
Manoj took up the cause of raising awareness about preventing incidents of drowning and swam 600 metres in Periyar river in Kerala in 30 minutes.
It’s a feat difficult to emulate. What makes 11-year-old R. Manoj’s achievement of swimming across a river in record time special is the fact that he is visually challenged. And he did it for a cause.
Alarmed by the increasing number of drowning incidents in the country, Manoj took up the cause of raising awareness about the importance of swimming. He wanted to send a message that by learning how to swim, many lives can be saved.
Manoj swam 600 metres in Periyar river in Kerala in 30 minutes. He started swimming in the river at 8:10 am from Advaita Ashram and reached Aluva Manappuram at 8:40 am.
Image: New Indian Express
Swami Swaroopananda Swamikal, Head of Advaita Ashram, flagged off the swim.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Manoj said, “Navaneeth, one of my seniors, was the first visually-challenged person to swim across Periyar river in 2015, following which he became my inspiration to learn swimming.”
He added, “We hear about many cases of drowning. If we know swimming, accidents in water can be avoided. My initiative is to make people aware of the importance of swimming. I found it difficult during the initial training classes. However, Saji sir made me swim long distances daily and that’s how I completed the initiative effortlessly.”
According to The Logical Indian, it was Manoj’s trainer, Saji Valasseril who trained him for 30 days. Saji has so far trained 3,000 people to swim. Manoj’s senior Navaneeth was also trained by Saji.
Saji told The New Indian Express, “It was so easy to train Manoj. It took him 30 minutes to finish as he was swimming in a relaxed mood. Parents of differently-abled children need to encourage them to get trained. In fact, swimming should be included in school curriculum”.
(Edited by Javed Gaihlot)
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