When I flagged down a cab in the mad morning rush to keep a medical appointment in Sharjah some time in 2018, little did I know it would be a pleasant detour to a once-in-a-life-time breaking story. My jaw dropped in disbelief as a casual conversation revealed my 10-minute cheffeure is a forgotten hero, Sri Lanka’s middle distance runner with international gold and silver medals under his belt.
The story of Lalith Prasanna Galappaththi reeks of the neglect and indifference that retired heroes typically face in the cruel world of sports in the subcontinent. He is a decorated athlete who brought laurels to the island nation and is still running the marathon of his life, struggling to make ends meet.
Lalith was not the only impoverished former hero who had to leave Sri Lanka to eke out a miserable existence elsewhere. Lalith’s childhood friend and former record holder, DW Prasantha, worked in Abu Dhabi as a security guard, too.