From inflicting injuries on self to emerging a triple gold medallist, Anurag’s story of transformation

Powerlifter Anurag Prasad’s tendency to inflict injuries on self was the most ominous sign that he needed urgent help. The 30-year-old from Chhattisgarh recently returned home after winning three gold and a silver at the Special Olympics World Games in Berlin and his family is simply amazed by the transformation the burly lifter has undergone in the last four years, thanks to the efforts of his local coach Suraj Biplehre and mother Pushpa Prasad.

From someone who used to bang his head against the wall, risking grievous injuries and making his parents fear for his well-being all the time, Anurag today is the pride of the family, having clinched the squat, dead lift and overall category gold besides a silver in bench-press in the 93kg category.

Blessed with the physique of a wrestler, Anurag now shows no such destructive tendencies, which became a “nuisance” for his near and dear ones less than five years back.

His mother Pushpa recalls how at the age of three he started getting debilitating fits.

“Gradually, the intensity of the fits became alarming and he was put on medication for five years by a doctor in Chhattisgarh. He was admitted to a school where his destructive tendencies became a nuisance… he used to throw things all around and pick up fights with anybody and everybody in the room. At times things used to get out of hand,” says Pushpa on the sidelines of the Special Olympics Bharat function organised to felicitate the medal winners of the Games.

India returned home with 202 medals, 76 of them gold, and Anurag is one of the highest medal-grossers from the Berlin event. “His self-destructive tendencies reached a stage where he used to try to smash his head by banging it against the wall. That was when we decided, sports could be an option to calm him down and channelise his energy into something productive,” says Pushpa, whose son has an Intellectual Disability level of below 42 as certified by the doctors. “Initially, he didn’t have much interest in weightlifting. Then we tried powerlifting, given his physique. Gradually we started imparting skill training. We then realised his potential and enrolled him at a district-level tournament, then state level. There, we realised he had a better ability to lift weights than others in his weight category,” says his local coach Suraj.

“Sport had a calming effect on Anurag and his family says he is a “completely changed” person.

“The destructive tendencies are a thing of the past. It took us a lot of time to bring about a change in his temperament. We kept him in an environment where he interacted, competed and trained with normal people.

“His mood swings gradually subsided. While at one time he had the tendency to harm fellow trainees, today he is just like a normal person. He knows how to behave as per the requirement of the situation. We no longer have to worry that he will try to harm himself,” adds the coach.

“Keeping him in a normal environment with normal people, I think, is the only reason he has shown so much of improvement,” says Suraj.

Having been to his maiden international competition and winning three gold, Anurag’s happiness “knows no bounds”, says his mother.

“Before leaving for Berlin he was so determined to win gold that we sometimes felt he could slip back into self-destructive mode if he came home disappointed. We are happy he has fulfilled his dream,” says Pushpa, whose other two children are leading a normal life.