Preethi Srinivasan

THE CRIPPLE WHO IS WHOLE! A national-level swimmer, state-level cricketer and excellent student, Preethi suffered a spinal cord injury at the age of 18 which left her paralysed below the neck. Despite losing her sense of identity in a split-second, Preethi re-emerged like a phoenix to become the founder of "Soulfree" (www.soulfree.org) a public charitable trust that is working to improve the quality-of-life of persons living with Spinal Cord Injury in India. The organisation aims to provide improved medical rehabilitation, education, employment, entrepreneurship and sports thereby enabling SCIs to become as independent as possible. Over the last seven years, Soulfree has grown to support more than 720 people struggling for survival with permanent paralysis while living below the poverty line. She is a award-winning disability-rights activist working to create an inclusive India, a public speaker, writer, agent of change and currently a PhD scholar at IIT Madras.