NEW DELHI: In a cruel turn of events, Tokyo Paralympics gold medalist badminton player Krishna Nagar lost his mother in an unfortunate incident, hours before he was to receive his Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award from President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhawan here on Saturday.
Krishna, who had won the gold in the men’s singles SH6 final in Tokyo, was in Delhi to receive the award along with 11 other Khel Ratna recipients when the tragic news reached him.
Initially, Krishna wasn’t told about his mother’s passing away over phone by his physiotherapist father Sunil Nagar. It was only when the 22-year-old reached his home in Jaipur that the devastating news was shared with him. She was 49.
Narrating the sequence of events, Krishna told TOI from Jaipur: “It was November 10 (Wednesday) and I was about to leave for the awards ceremony. It was 12-12:30pm and I had told my mother to cook food for me. My father had also come home around that time from his work and three of us were having a fun time. I didn’t notice when she headed to the roof. I had taken a shower and was drying my towel when I heard a loud thump. Upon checking, I realised that my mother had fallen to the first floor of our house from the terrace.”
“We immediately rushed her to the hospital and the doctors admitted her to the ICU ward. The doctors assured me that she was showing signs of improvement and I left for Delhi on Thursday. But she died in the hospital last night. She never regained consciousness after the fall,” Krishna said in a choked voice.
Meanwhile, Olympic gold medallist javelin-thrower Neeraj Chopra and Tokyo Paralympics stars were among an unprecedented 12 sportspersons who were presented with the country’s highest sporting honour, Khel Ratna, in a glittering national sports awards ceremony here.
The President also bestowed 35 sportspersons with the Arjuna as the country celebrated its best-ever show at the Olympics and Paralympics.