Shooting victim beats Mumbai terrorists to run again

Determined: Harnish Patel ready to compete in the Richmond Park duathlon
Peter Dominiczak12 April 2012

A man who had to learn to walk again after being shot in the Mumbai terror attacks last year has completed a gruelling 34km running and cycling challenge.

Harnish Patel, 29, was shot three times in the legs and chest during the massacre last year.

He competed in the Chelsea and Westminster Health Charity London Duathlon, which involved a 9km run, a 20km bike ride and another 5km run in Richmond Park.

A total of 166 people were killed in the attacks by 10 gunmen in Mumbai in November.

Mr Patel is still in pain because of nerve damage to his legs but said he was determined to get back to running whatever the cost.

He said: "After the attack it was incredibly hard to get back into training. I had tubes sticking out of my legs draining blood and there was a real worry I wouldn't be able to run again.

"I made a decision that I would get back to running and when I did, it was the most incredible feeling. I came off crutches in March and I was determined to succeed. At first the pain in my legs was intense but I improved gradually."

He added: "Of course I'm still affected by what happened in Mumbai but you have to keep going. What happened has stayed with me. It's not something you can just put behind you. Exercising gave me the focus I needed to pick myself up and move forward. I do feel pain when I run and doctors have said I may never regain feeling in parts of my legs."

Mr Patel, who used to live in Putney but now lives in Havant, said: "Unfortunately my time was pretty appalling and I'm a bit disappointed. I'll be back next year and I'll definitely smash my time."

Mr Patel worked as a commercial surveyor before the attack but said he is now struggling to find work.

He said: "I'm well enough to go back to work but the economic climate is so bad that there just doesn't seem to be anything available at the moment."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in