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A paraplegic man with polio who spent hours of his childhood in a hole in the ground in Mumbai, as his mother believed blood flow to his legs may cure the disease, and was “carried everywhere” until the age of 14, has said “you should never give up” as he defied the odds to become a professional wheelchair sportsman and father a child in his 50s. Jignesh (Jig) Vaidya, 52, who was born in Mumbai, India, but now lives in Leicester, contracted polio aged two as he was not “vaccinated at the right time” because his family could not afford it. This resulted in him being paralysed from the waist down, and he was hospitalised for at least six months at the age of four, with his legs in plaster to keep them straight. After this, Jignesh’s doctor said “there’s nothing we can do”, and since his family could not afford a wheelchair or further treatment, and his access to education was limited due to his disability, he remained at home for several years, with his mother Nirmala, now 83, “doing everything for him” – washing, feeding, changing and carrying him. Defying his difficult beginnings, Jignesh has spent his life moving across the world, becoming a professional wheelchair basketball player and enjoying a successful career, currently working as a project assistant at Maximus UK and broadcast assistant at the BBC, all before the birth of his now 20-month-old son, Jesse. He has not forgotten where his life began, however, and told PA Real Life: “As an Indian remedy, (my mother) dug a hole outside our house in the sun and put my whole body in it for six hours every day, neck down, in 30-degree heat. “She put really heavy bangles on both my legs and asked me to sit on the wall for three, four hours a day, dangling them, as she thought, ‘Jignesh will walk one day’.” Jignesh said his mother believed in Indian medication and thought the blood flow may help to cure his polio – a serious infection caused by a virus – but Jignesh described it as “hell”. From that point on, he thought, “this is going to be my life, this is it for me, it’s not going to get any better”. “I thought, ‘I’m going to be a loser – I hate to say that word – I’m not going to have any friends, and I’m going to be asking people for help all my life’,” he added. At the age of 14, Jignesh was given a wheelchair after his community rallied to raise some funds and he was finally able to go to school. He said he had to “catch up to the people who were ahead of (him)”, but he loved having some independence and no longer having to be carried by his family or others. He experienced a major setback when he moved to Dubai at 16, as he gave up his wheelchair to support another young boy with polio in Mumbai, and this left him in a dark place, mentally, as he had no “freedom”. Since then, however, he has moved to Leicester, received an “amazing education”, competed as a professional wheelchair basketball player, skydived, and fathered a son called Jesse, despite doctors saying this would not be possible. Jignesh said: “You should never give up in this life, and don’t be afraid to open up and ask for help. “Do what you’re best at and, if you work at something every day, whatever your goal is in life, you will get there. “It may take some time, maybe even years – it took me until the age of 20 to learn how to write my name in English – but I didn’t give up and look at me now.” From the age of 14, when Jignesh received his first wheelchair in Mumbai, he said he started to “flourish” and enjoyed going to school. However, he was subjected to discriminatory comments by his teachers, with one saying: “He’s handicapped, he can’t go at the front, put him in the back.” Since Jignesh’s late father Laxmikant, 66, was working in Dubai at the time, he ended up moving out there for two years at the age of 16 – but because his family could not afford to send him to school and he no longer had his wheelchair, he said he spent two years “looking out the window, watching people go by”. He said “there was nothing for (him)”, apart from a taxi ride once a month, and this significantly impacted his mental health, as he felt this had reversed all the progress he had made. “There was one point in my life, in those two years, where I was going to dark places and crying all the time,” he said. “I thought, ‘If mum’s not here, I could jump out the window and nobody will know. I can end it’, because I thought, ‘This is it, I can’t go back to what I had, I’m stuck’.” After his father earned enough money from those two years in Dubai, he and his family moved to the UK in 1988, when he was 18, and this is when everything changed. He received a new wheelchair in March 1989, aged 19, and started full-time education in September 1990, aged 20, where he learned English, maths, and how to use computers – and given he had impressive upper body strength and speed, he started playing sports as well, including wheelchair hockey and basketball. “I was a coloured person, a new arrival, couldn’t speak the language, and yet I was treated like everyone else,” he said. “I just thought, ‘Wow, I’m a part of society, I’m not being treated like a dog, like I was in Mumbai’, and if an opportunity comes in, I will take it, as there’s no going back. “When I started playing sports, I knew there and then that this is it, this is my life, this is my path.” Jignesh has since gone on to compete as a professional wheelchair basketball player internationally in places such as France, play for teams including MK Aces Wheelchair Basketball Club and Leicester Cobras, coach at the Coventry Crusaders club, skydive, and father Jesse with his partner Julie, 40, a teacher – confounding doctors. He goes to his local Nuffield Health gym every day, completing workouts and classes which have been adapted for him, and this helps to slow the progression of his polio as muscle weakness can increase over time. He “cherishes” being able to work with the “amazing” staff, including his personal trainer Matthew Molloy, in an inclusive environment where he is part of a team, supported, and everyone can “flourish”. Looking back, Jignesh realises why his mother, who he now cares for, would say, “everything happens for a reason”, and he is extremely grateful for his family’s love and support. He is excited to watch Jesse grow up, and he wants to continue encouraging disabled people to stay active, fight for their rights, and “never give up”. “I never thought that when I was in that hole, or when I was in Dubai and had nothing, that I’d be where I am today,” he said. “Sometimes, when I’m driving, I think, ‘This could be a movie; I’m going to wake up and be back in Mumbai’, so every day now, I pray and say, ‘Thank you’.” To find out more about Nuffield Health, visit: nuffieldhealth.com Read More Trypophobia: ‘Mushrooms, Beanie Babies and Doja Cat - I lived in fear for 30 years’ Lucozade addict drinks eight bottles a day and says it’s harder to quit than class-A drugs Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

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Rachel Zegler has divided people over the comments she made about Disney's upcoming Snow White live-action remake, declaring the princess is "not going to be dreaming about true love". The 22-year-old actor who plays Snow White in the new adaptation set to be released next year has revealed what viewers can expect and how it will diverge from the original 1937 film. Rather than being a damsel in distress, Zegler described how her take on the character will portray her as "leader." Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter "It's no longer 1937. We absolutely wrote a Snow White that is not gonna be saved by the prince," she told Variety in September last year alongside co-star Gal Gadot, who plays the Evil Queen and also agreed with Zegler. "She’s not going to be saved by the prince and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love.” Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot on Bringing a New Modern Edge to 'Snow White' www.youtube.com "She’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be the leader that her late father told her that she could be if she was fearless, fair, brave and true." She added: "So, it’s just a really incredible story for young people everywhere to see themselves in.” In another interview with Entertainment Weekly, Zegler admitted she had only watched the original film once as she discussed the remake. Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot on 'Snow White' | D23 2022 | Entertainment Weekly www.youtube.com "I was scared of the original version. I think I watched it once and never picked it up again. I'm being so serious," she said. "I watched it once, and then I went on the ride in Disney World, which was called Snow White's Scary Adventures. Doesn't sound like something a little kid would like. I was terrified of it, never revisited Snow White again." Zegler also conveyed this message in an interview with ExtraTV where she called the Prince a "stalker" and joked that scenes from the remake including the Prince (played by Andrew Burnap) may get cut. Rachel Zegler Teases Hunger Games Prequel and FANGIRLS Over Jennifer Lawrence (Exclusive) www.youtube.com "The original cartoon came out in 1937, and very evidently so. There's a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird! Weird! So we didn't do that this time," she said. "We have a different approach to what I'm sure a lot of people will assume is a love story just because we cast a guy in the movie," "All of Andrew's scenes could get cut, who knows? It's Hollywood, baby!" Since then Zegler's comments have prompted discussions online about the upcoming remake, with some criticising the actor's take that Snow White shouldn't dream about love. "It is not anti-feminist to want to fall in love, to want to get married, to want to stay at home, to be soft, to want to be a homemaker. None of these things makes you less valuable as a person or a woman," @cosywithangie said in a viral TikTok. "Criticising Disney princesses is not feminist. Not every woman is a leader. Not every woman wants to be a leader. Not every woman wants or craves power and that's ok." "You're right, it's no longer 1937, and you know what else women no longer have to do? Choose between a career or love, we can have both," @thechickflicksshow said. She then noted how other previous Snow White adaptations such as Snow White & The Huntsman (2012) and Mirror, Mirror (2012) allowed the princess to be her own saviour but she also found true love too. While @nuttybutter96 questioned why a remake was being made if Zegler "hated the original so much." "I don't think I've ever seen such a condescending, smug, Disney princess ever in my life," the TikToker said. "She made us sound like women only matter if they're hateful of love, hateful of any kind of romance, and we only exist to thrive and be a leader." However, some people have defended Zegler and believe the hate and criticism she's received is unwarranted. "Rachel Zegler is just another 22-year-old actor who has cameras in her face all the time and didn't give a perfect answer one time," @jstoobs said and called out those getting "weird" about the situation. “She made one comment about how Snow White has ambitions of her own that has nothing to do with romance, and suddenly everyone decided that women being damsels in distress is [feminist], actually," @waitforme_II tweeted. "But don't u guys remember Maleficent? That movie was good but she wasn't saved by the prince?" one commenter wrote, in reference to Maleficent (2014), the Disney live-action remake of Sleeping Beauty. "Robert Pattison is always hating on Twilight and Edward [Cullen] but everyone loves him for that," someone else noted. The live-action remake of Snow White is set to be released in March 2024. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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