ITBP constable's son beats cancer, tops his class

New Delhi: An ITBP constable's son is earning laurels and has become the cynosure of all eyes as he defeated odds like a growing bone cancer and the absence of his father posted at far flung China border to top in his class X examination with distinction.

15-year-old Shakti Singh had a very painful and disturbed last year after he was detected with cancer of the bones and had to undertake regular chemotherapy sessions at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Shakti's father, Mahendra Singh Rathore, was till recently posted at the ITBP forward area in Himachal Pradesh to guard the Sino-Indian frontier and has now been allowed a posting in the national capital to monitor his son's treatment.

Shakti topped his class X exam with 88 per cent marks and travels regularly from Churu in Rajasthan to Delhi to undertake his painful chemotherapy sessions and medical consultations.

"Shakti along with his younger sister and mother has to travel from Churu to Delhi on many occasions. He was earlier admitted to the Sawai Man Singh hospital in Jaipur but the need for advanced treatment brought us to Delhi," Shakti's father Mahendra told on Sunday after his son was awarded by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police for being extraordinary.

"I bring Shakti to such functions as this encourages him to fight and feel happy in spite of all odds. After medical treatment, it is only encouragement that will keep him going," a teary-eyed Singh said.

Shakti will undergo a surgery at AIIMS in September to remove the cancerous tissues from his legs but such painful instances have not deterred him from hoping for the best.

"My family and I thought for a while about the problems that cancer would bring. But then I chose to look forward despite the fact that there may not be much for me to look forward to," Shakti said after he received a memento from Sadhna Bhatia, wife of ITBP chief RK Bhatia in recognition of his achievement.

"He is an extraordinary child. We wish we could see his laurels and feats all our life," said a senior ITBP officer who had come to the function at the forces' campus like many others on a Sunday, just to cheer Shakti.