Hi friends, its me kushagra reporting about my rocking and adventurous trip. I am sure most of you do not know about places RISHIKESH and HARIDWAR . These are religious spots in India with super awesome natural beauty and quite good for adventure sport also like river rafting and bungee jump. Luckily i got the bookings for river rafting. Now you people might be thinking "river rafting for a person with Ankylosing Spondylitis ". Ya you are right ,even i had that thought in my mind that sitting on the raft for so long and that cold water splash would 
kill me and my back. But ,if you have read my previous articles than you might have presumed that i am a jackass when it comes to taking precautions for AS and
wise
ass when it comes to defeating AS. So i simply fooled my mind and went
for rafting. At first , that scary water rush was freaking me out then
slowly i was enjoying that fear. Now here comes the Grade IV rapid .
Before i tell you what happened with me in that rapid you must know that
i took an idiotic decision to avoid paddling and sit at front without
the paddles. I thought it would be less tiring but unfortunately it was
more ass kicking. I 
was sitting at the front and i was the first one to
get hit by massive cold wave on from the right and for a moment i was
like,what the hell was it ,my helmet almost went of my head. I any how
came into senses ,grabbed my helmet and roared like a wild animal and
and and and............ jumped into that icy cold dangerous rapid water. Isn't that
insane..Even my friends at the raft thought the same. But whats the fun
when you don't do something insane .That icy water for freezing my
bones and here comes in picture my AS . My waist and backbone started
paining a bit but as you know pain does not stop me ever .My friend 
told
me i have to suffer from pain whole week and i told him "" dude this
life time experience is worth more than two days of painkillers"" So i
continued in water. More then rafting it was a swimming experience for
me. In spite of my AS probs i was in that water for more then an hour till my hands and legs were almost numb because of that cold water. Enjoyed it to the fullest, i just wanna say that AS fear in my mind
was useless. It stopped me from doing rafting from so long time but ones
i overtook it then it was just most memorable experience.
kill me and my back. But ,if you have read my previous articles than you might have presumed that i am a jackass when it comes to taking precautions for AS and
wise
ass when it comes to defeating AS. So i simply fooled my mind and went
for rafting. At first , that scary water rush was freaking me out then
slowly i was enjoying that fear. Now here comes the Grade IV rapid .
Before i tell you what happened with me in that rapid you must know that
i took an idiotic decision to avoid paddling and sit at front without
the paddles. I thought it would be less tiring but unfortunately it was
more ass kicking. I 
was sitting at the front and i was the first one to
get hit by massive cold wave on from the right and for a moment i was
like,what the hell was it ,my helmet almost went of my head. I any how
came into senses ,grabbed my helmet and roared like a wild animal and
and and and............ jumped into that icy cold dangerous rapid water. Isn't that
insane..Even my friends at the raft thought the same. But whats the fun
when you don't do something insane .That icy water for freezing my
bones and here comes in picture my AS . My waist and backbone started
paining a bit but as you know pain does not stop me ever .My friend 
told
me i have to suffer from pain whole week and i told him "" dude this
life time experience is worth more than two days of painkillers"" So i
continued in water. More then rafting it was a swimming experience for
me. In spite of my AS probs i was in that water for more then an hour till my hands and legs were almost numb because of that cold water. Enjoyed it to the fullest, i just wanna say that AS fear in my mind
was useless. It stopped me from doing rafting from so long time but ones
i overtook it then it was just most memorable experience. 
After
that amazing experience i headed towards the temple on the mountain top.
When i first saw the height of that mountain first thing that came in
my mind was that "WTF , why work so hard 
to make temple on
mountain,whats wrong on the ground". It was scorching heat and i knew i
would give up before reaching the top because AS have made me little
weak and very low stamina. But again in spite of all odds i started my
journey to the top in scorching heat and with weak spine. In the middle
of my way i almost broke down. I just thought in my mind that i am not
weak,i decided something and i cannot back out now, no matter what
the pace is but i have to complete it. Its not about showing anyone
else but it was about me, nothing to prove anyone. But if i do this then
at least i wont fear any hurdles in my life ,doesn't matter if i
complete it or not. So i just put on my shades and started to walk that
concrete road leading to the top. Guess what, i was last but i reached
there. The view from the top was super awesome. It was like the gift of
achieving the goal.
Next thing that i did was a cliff
jumping and it was another achievement because i have height phobia. Yap my friends i have height phobia also still i jumped off the cliff
in water. I just went at the edge and i already knew that if i thought
for a second even ,then my legs would freeze.
So, i completely
blocked my mind and jumped into water. It was hardly 3 to 4 second
journey to water but i almost felt like my heart was going to pop out of
my mouth. As i hit the water i almost broke my ass, it was such a rock
solid strike. The feel of weightlessness then being into that water and that gush of icy
water striking like a rock is simply like living without limits. For a
patient of AS the life without limits is a dream. Like i always wanted to. I wish my dream gets
fulfilled...........
I consulted my doctor the next day for
bungee jumping .. He said that i cannot do it the jerk would harm my
backbone .. Now i don't think i have to tell you what i am planning to
do next..
Good read, so have you been bungee jumping yet?? I have AS and was considering it but think it may be a step too far! Have been doing acrobatics for about a year and whilst initially my doctor wasn't too impressed it has hugely improved my back flexibility so guess that's good :)
ReplyDeleteNO i haven't done it yet but not because of doctor.I didnt get chance to never visit that hill station again.I do sometimes face some problems because of these activities and laziness.but its good to live it then just surviving. I dont take any medications also.When the pain gets very extreme thn i take pain killers or when i go for outings.Other then that i live normally with hardly 10 minutes of exercise max twice a week. But it is true that exercise is best option. When there is pain i do some stretching in warm shower.It helps alott.Other thing is fasting .U can try it if u can. U will see remarkable changes after fasting for two days .LESS stiffness and very less pain. ALthough i dont do it but i would advice to fast for two days a week.It will surely help. And eat stuff then keeps body warm from inside like garlic.HOPE all this is helpful.. THis disease is hell but it made me mentally very strong. I live alone mostly and happy. (Excluding some days :P)
DeleteHey,
ReplyDeleteI was recently diagnosed with AS and shoulder arthrites. Planning to go for rafting this week.
Thanks for the article, i was a bit reluctant to it before reading your article but now i am determined that i'll do it.
Thank you once again
Regards,
Ankur