Sarmad Tariq

Sarmad Tariq (17 December 1975 – 30 April 2014), also known as "the chairman", was a storyteller and motivational speaker from Islamabad, Pakistan.[1][2] After meeting a swimming accident at the age of 15, he was paralyzed from the left shoulder down and began using a wheelchair (hence his nickname).[3] He also holds the world record of longest non-stop drive by a quadriplegic by driving his hand controlled car for 33 hours, covering a distance of 1,847 km from Khyber to Karachi.[4]

Sarmad Tariq
سرمد طارق
Born(1975-12-17)17 December 1975
Islamabad, Pakistan
Died30 April 2014(2014-04-30) (aged 38)
OccupationLife coach, motivational speaker, writer
Years active2005–2014
Spouse(s)Zehra Kamal
WebsiteFacebook page

On 30 January 2005, he was the first wheelchair-using athlete to participate in the Lahore Marathon. By completing the race in seven and a half hours, he qualified to represent his country in ING New York City Marathon 2005 and made history for Pakistan by returning with a finisher's medal.[5]

Among his other accomplishments, he learned to drive a specially adapted automatic car, and obtained a job with a software firm by the age of 23. Soon afterward, he married Zehra, his childhood neighbor from the southwestern city of Quetta.[6]

On 30 April 2014, Tariq died at the age of 38.

References
  1. Qureshi, Faisal. "Giving up? Don't even think about it!". Social Movement. Azm-e-Alishan. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  2. Kapadia, Faisal. "From boredom to sheer inspiration". News/Journalism/Media. Dawn.com. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
  3. Abbasi, Shahid. "Sarmad Tariq: Amazing Pakistani with inspirational story for youth". News/Journalism. The News Tribe. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  4. Ebrahim, Zofeen T. "One step at a time…". Dawn News. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  5. Haleem, Sohail. "Overcoming marathon obstacles". News website. BBC News | South Asia. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  6. Kemp, Danny. "'Reckless' paraplegic helps quake survivors". Taipei Times. Retrieved 14 July 2012.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.