Special Olympics winner felicitated

Eighteen-year-old Gauri Gadgil was awarded the Dr Batra's Positive Health Award last night.

Eighteen-year-old Gauri Gadgil was awarded the Dr Batra's Positive Health Award last night.

Gadgil, who has Down's Syndrome, won a silver medal in the 25-metre butterfly stroke event at the Shanghai Special Olympics in 2005.

Dr Akshay Batra, the deputy managing director of Dr Batra's Positive Health clinic, said that the response to the awards, now in its fourth year, was heartening.

"I was especially touched by Gauri Gadgil's story, but the others are real fighters too. This year we felicitated eight persons from 183 nominations," he said.

Others felicitated at the awards function are: Magician Ashley Vanristell (10), born with a rare genetic condition hypogammaglobulinemia, who offers proceeds of his shows to help others with his condition; cancer survivor and support group founder Neerja Malik; Down's Syndrome patient and Shiamak Davar troupe dancer Ashrita Shetty; chess player and software developer Charudutta Jadhav; drug rehab expert Dr Yusuf Merchant; Padmashree awardee and Paralympics champion Malathi Holla and cancer patient Sahara Shah (5), who dreams of being a model.

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