Packed off to an orphanage after her accident since her poor parents were unable to care for her, Payal Nag resolutely fought feelings of abandonment and self-pity to emerge as a true champion. Today, at 18, Payal Nag showed the world she is not just a quadruple amputee and won a double gold for her country at the recently held World Archery Para series in Bangkok.

The golden win

Teenage quadruple amputee archer Payal Nag produced a stunning upset to defeat her world No 1 decorated teammate Sheetal Devi and clinch gold, headlining India’s dominant show at the World Archery Para Series in Bangkok, where the country finished on top with an overwhelming seven gold.

The 18-year-old rising star won 139-136 in the compound women’s final, an also combined with Sheetal to bag the team gold, capping a memorable campaign as India signed off with 16 medals including five silver and four bronze.

This was Payal’s second win over Sheetal in little over a year, having defeated her at the Para Nationals in Jaipur in January 2025.

Horrific accident

Payal’s story is a painful one to recount. This mason’s daughter has fought adversity and pain from the time her parents sent her off to an orphanage after she lost all her four limbs in an electrocution accident.

The accident happened when Payal was in class 3 playing with her younger brother on the fifth floor newly-constructed terrace of an under-construction building in Raipur.

Some water on the terrace turned deadly after a live wire had come in contact with it. The electric shock left her critically injured, and doctors had no option but to amputate all four limbs to save her life.

The tragedy pushed the already struggling family of six members into deep despair.

‘Better off poisoned’

With no means to care for her, her parents — Bijay Kumar Nag and Janata — who hailed from a village Jamunabahal about 70kms from Balangir in Odisha, eventually put her in Parbati Giri Bal Niketan, an orphanage near their home.

It was managed by a district administration.

At this time, relatives and neighbours advised the parents, “You won’t eat, you won’t move, that’s what he said… “(She won’t be able to eat, she won’t be able to walk… it would be better to poison her.)

Also read: Sheetal Devi interview | ‘When I took up archery for the first time…’

This story was narrated by her coach Kuldeep Vedwan.

For after her victory, Payal was asked about the accident. But, the champ was clear, she did not want to mar her victory by talking about her painful past.

“I don’t want to talk about the accident today,” Payal said quietly in a mixed emotion of pain and joy to journalists. “Not today please… I can talk about it some other time.”

Anand Mahindra tweet

Her story has stirred Anand Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra Group, who tweeted that whenever he is “feeling low” or sorry for himself he will look at these images of Payal and Sheetal again and remind myself what the words: Courage, Resilience & Positive thinking, really mean.

“These champions are not just my Monday motivation, they will be a source of motivation every single day,” he stressed.

Art to archery

There’s a tale behind Payal’s discovery by her coach.

Going through a tough time at the orphanage, the local administration led by then Balangir Collector Chanchal Rana became her ray of light.

Recognising her talent as an artist, they arranged an art tutor at CCI, helping Payal refine her skills. She even impressed Anu Garg (the current Chief Secy of Odisha) by sketching her portrait during a visit.

Garg directed the Social Security & Empowerment of Persons With Disabilities department to support her. In 2023, life took a dramatic turn for Payal.

Her current coach spotted her in the viral Twitter video of her sketching. He reached out, and inspired her to take up archery. “I saw her photo on Twitter… she didn’t have any arms or legs. I was determined to bring her to my academy (Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board),” Vedwan told PTI.

Also read: How traditional archery has evolved into a modern, competitive sport in Ladakh

“I made Sheetal Devi a champion and I always believed Payal could also become one. She was exactly the kind I was looking for.” But getting her out of the orphanage and to convince everyone about something (archery) alien to them required effort. But he wrote to the district collector and got permission.

Creating a special device

There were still huge challenges to overcome. When Payal first reached the academy in Katra and saw others including Sheetal Devi training, she broke down. Tearfully, she asked her coach, “How will I manage without limbs?”

Vedwan reassured her: “Leave everything to me, you just work hard.” She assiduously followed his advice and did not complain as she trained for nearly eight hours a day. But, the coach was struggling at first to come up with a device to help her to shoot.

“For Sheetal, the releaser which was developed by me was enough. But for Payal, the challenge was bigger — how would she lift the bow without legs?”Vedwan told journalists.

Vedwan designed customised equipment, including a steel device fitted to her prosthetic leg to lift the bow, and spent months perfecting it. First there were two devices fitted to her prosthetic legs. “It took me three months to tune her to the equipment. Only when she started scoring 350-355 out of 36 arrows did I know she was ready,” he said.

But twin devices were not permissible in International compeitions. So Vedwan went a step ahead to make the single device fitted to her right prosthetic leg.

International debut

Her international debut came at the Dubai 2025 Asian Youth Para Games after World Archery approved her customised equipment, making her the world’s first quadruple amputee archer to compete internationally. She trained alongside Sheetal at the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Sports Complex in Katra during 2023-24 before the latter shifted base to Sonepat.

Her rise since then has been remarkable.

Also read: Paris Paralympics: Armless archer Sheetal Devi finishes 2nd, enters Round of 16

Making her debut at the 2025 Jaipur Nationals, she defeated India’s most decorated para archer Sheetal to win double gold (ranking and Olympic rounds). She followed it up with a silver at the Khelo India Para Games and another at the Nationals in Patiala earlier this year — both times losing to Sheetal. And in Bangkok, she delivered her biggest moment yet.

“She has it in her to win multiple gold medals for India at the Asian Para Games and even the LA Paralympics,” Vedwan said. “Sheetal has proved it, and Payal will carry that legacy forward.”

Sister support

Through all the struggles, one constant has been her elder sister Barsha. “I’m really thankful to my sister. She has been with me like my shadow,” Payal said. “All my success is because of her.” Barsha, who even assists her during competitions, summed it up best.

“People would say many things… maybe because of that she became so strong,” her sister Barsha told PTI from Bangkok. “Today her success is a response to all those talks.” She wanted to thank those people who had written off her champion sister as a child saying she was better of dead.

Payal clearly proved them wrong.