Sarmad Tariq (17 December 1975 – 30 April 2014), also known as "the chairman", was a storyteller and motivational speaker from Islamabad, Pakistan.[1][2] 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).[3] 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.[4]
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.[5]
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.[6]
On 30 April 2014, Tariq died at the age of 38.
References
