Kannur: Lathika P V (48) carries many achievements under her belt — the first woman from Kerala to qualify for the National Para Powerlifting Championship in 2018, the first Kerala woman to win Gold in 2022, and, seven years after her debut, still the only Kerala woman to feature at the 22nd championship in Noida later this month.

But ask her about her glorious moment, and she won’t talk about medals. Instead, she’ll tell you about standing before 2,000 students at Wadi Huda Progressive English Medium School in Kannur’s Pazhayangadi. "I had never been to a school before. When they invited me as the chief guest on sports day, it was overwhelming. It made me feel like I'm not a nobody,” she says.

Lathika was two when polio struck, leaving her legs paralysed. The second of three daughters, she grew up in a home with little space for dreams. Her mother, Padmavathi, was a farmer; her father, Kunhiraman A, was a porter in Mathamangalam near Payyannur. They were too poor to send her to school. "My father said if he had a cycle, he would have taken me to school," said Lathika. Her elder sister, Latha, was sent to their grandmother’s house in Kunhimangalam for schooling, while the youngest, Saritha, studied at a local school in Mathamangalam. Lathika stayed home, with no power, tap water or road access. She would drag herself outside to sit under the cashew trees, watch the goats, and wait for little Saritha to return. "She used to tell me stories from the school," said Lathika.

After Saritha and Latha got married, Lathika became lonely again. For 41 years, that was her world. Then, in 2016, everything changed. The Eramam-Kuttur Grama Panchayat gave Lathika P V a three-wheeled mobility scooter. Saritha's son, Sangeeth, taught her to drive it in three nights. "After that, I never stayed home. My new world was outside," she said. She went to temples, attended Theyyam festivals, and even drove to Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, and Ernakulam.

Once, an uncle questioned her constant roaming. She shut him up, saying: "For 41 years, you never once asked why I was always inside". Then, in 2018, her neighbour Abdul Basheer M C (54) — an inventor left paralysed waist down after a road accident at 21 — knocked on her door. "I had known Basheer ikka since childhood. He asked if I would come with him somewhere. I didn't ask where or why. I just told him to get his modified Nano car," she said.

When Basheer arrived, two others with disabilities were already in the car. It stopped in front of Kannur Indoor Stadium in Mundayad, 40km away. The Kerala State Para Powerlifting Championship was underway. Lathika assumed Basheer brought her to watch. "After a while, he asked if I wanted to try. I had never seen the sport before, but I thought—why not!" she said.

Powerlifting is not an Olympic sport, but it is a prestigious event in the Paralympics. Athletes with disabilities compete only in the bench press, not squat and deadlift. Lathika lifted 30kg effortlessly.

She didn’t realise what she had done. She became the first woman from Kerala to qualify for the nationals in Nagpur. "Journalists came to interview me. I didn’t know what was happening. For years, I was invisible. Now, reporters were calling me 'madam, madam,' asking about my work. It was a mix of joy and disbelief," she said.

Joby Mathew, vice-president of the Kerala Para Powerlifting Federation, was impressed. She had no training, yet she had potential. He told her to train hard for two months before the nationals. The gyms in Pilathara, the nearest town, were all on the upper floors. Finally, 17km away, she found a home-turned-gym run by a female trainer, Pushpa.

Unnikrishnan C M of INSPIRE, an NGO for people with disabilities, sponsored her trips. Her younger sister Saritha accompanied her. "That was my first time on a flight," she said. She came fourth in Nagpur. That steeled her resolve. She returned and joined Power Max, a gym on the third floor in Pilathara, run by trainer Mohanan. "I climbed the stairs on my knees every day and worked out from 4 to 6 pm," Lathika said. "He put me on a strict regimen."

Mohanan trained her for free, but powerlifting is a high-maintenance sport. He asked her to eat 15 eggs daily, chicken and beef almost every day for protein, give up rice at night, and avoid sugar and fried food. "I avoided what they told me not to eat, but I couldn’t afford what they asked me to," she said. Yet, she managed two eggs in the morning, three at night, and chicken when possible.

In 2021, after the first Covid wave, the nationals were held in Bengaluru. Unnikrishnan drove her from Kannur. She came second. "But I wanted gold," she said. Lathika trained harder. In 2022, she made history, winning gold in the 61kg category. The next year, she gained weight and had to compete in the 67kg category in Delhi. She still won silver.

Then came the real battle. After the Delhi event, she was diagnosed with a syndrome which spiked her heartbeat to 200 per minute — twice the safe limit during exercise. She underwent catheter ablation to restore her normal rhythm. "The doctors advised three months of rest. I took six. Now, I’m ready to go."

After skipping the 2024 event, she cut her weight to 57kg. Next week, she flies to Noida.