| Sarmad Tariq سرمد طارق | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1975-12-17)17 December 1975 Islamabad, Pakistan |
| Died | 30 April 2014(2014-04-30) (aged 38) |
| Occupation(s) | Life coach, motivational speaker, writer |
| Years active | 2005–2014 |
| Spouse | Zehra Kamal |
| Website | Facebook page |
Sarmad Tariq (17 December 1975 – 30 April 2014), also known as "the chairman", was a storyteller and motivational speaker from Islamabad, Pakistan. 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). 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.
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.
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.
On 30 April 2014, Tariq died at the age of 38.
References
- Qureshi, Faisal. "Giving up? Don't even think about it!". Social Movement. Azm-e-Alishan. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
- Kapadia, Faisal. "From boredom to sheer inspiration". News/Journalism/Media. Dawn.com. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- Abbasi, Shahid. "Sarmad Tariq: Amazing Pakistani with inspirational story for youth". News/Journalism. The News Tribe. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
- Ebrahim, Zofeen T. "One step at a time…". Dawn News. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- Haleem, Sohail. "Overcoming marathon obstacles". News website. BBC News | South Asia. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
- Kemp, Danny. "'Reckless' paraplegic helps quake survivors". Taipei Times. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
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