“Na kha payegi, na chal payegi… isse toh bhala isko zeher de do.” Those were the cruel words neighbours and relatives hurled at Payal Nag’s family in Balangir, Odisha, after she lost all four limbs to electrocution as a child in 2015. On Saturday evening in Bangkok, the same girl – now 18 – stood ‘tall’ on the global stage, winning double gold at the World Archery Para Series in a journey that has turned pain into purpose and silence into a statement.
Payal stunned India’s most decorated para archer, world No. 1 Sheetal Devi, 139-136 in the compound women’s final and also partnered her to win team gold, as India topped the medal standings with 16 medals (seven gold, five silver, four bronze).
The turning point in her life came on a morning in 2015.
A Class 3 student at the time, Payal was playing with her younger brother on the fifth-floor terrace of an under-construction building in Raipur, where her father worked as a mason after migrating from Odisha in search of livelihood.
Congratulate #Odisha athlete #PayalNag on clinching the #Gold medal in the Women’s Para Compound Final at the World Archery Para Series in Bangkok. May she keep shining in her sporting career and make the state and country proud. Wish her the best. #OdishaForSports pic.twitter.com/UvFCzshMIJ
— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) April 4, 2026
There was water on the terrace, and a live wire had come into contact with it.
In a split second, everything changed.
The electric shock left her critically injured, and doctors had no option but to amputate all four limbs to save her life.
“I don’t want to talk about the accident today,” Payal said quietly, in a mixture of pain and joy. “Not today, please… I can talk about it some other time.” The tragedy pushed the already struggling family of six into deep despair.
With no means to care for her, her parents-Bijay Kumar Nag and Janata-who hailed from the village of Jamunabahal, about 70 km from Balangir, eventually placed her at Parbati Giri Bal Niketan, an orphanage near Balangir.
It was during those days that the harshest words were spoken.
“Na kha payegi, na chal payegi… isse toh bhala isko zahar de do (She won’t be able to eat, she won’t be able to walk-it would be better to poison her),” recalled Kuldeep Vedwan, who later spotted her talent.
“The parents were helpless, and they put her in the orphanage run by the district administration.”
ABCD in archery
Her life-changing breakthrough came in 2023, when coach Kuldeep Vedwan spotted her on social media.
“I saw her photo on Twitter… she didn’t have arms or legs. I was determined to bring her to my academy (Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board),” Vedwan told PTI.
“I made Sheetal Devi a champion, and I always believed Payal could become one too. She was exactly the kind I was looking for.”
However, extracting her from the orphanage and convincing everyone about a sport alien to them required significant effort.
“I had to write to the district collector to get permission,” he added.
When Payal first arrived at the academy in Katra and saw others, including Sheetal Devi, training, she broke down.
“Mu kenta chaleibi, mora ta haata-paa nai (How will I manage without limbs)?” she asked in the Balangir dialect, tears welling up in her eyes.
Vedwan reassured her: “Leave everything to me. You just work hard.” She followed that advice with discipline, training nearly eight hours a day.
The device
Getting her to shoot required innovation and patience.
“For Sheetal, the releaser I developed was enough. But for Payal, the challenge was bigger-how would she lift the bow without legs?” Vedwan explained.
He designed customised equipment, including a steel device fitted to her prosthetic leg to lift the bow, and spent months refining it.
Initially, two devices were 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.
However, the twin-device setup was not permissible under international competition rules. Once Payal gained confidence, Vedwan developed a single device fitted to her right prosthetic leg.
Her international debut came at the 2025 Asian Youth Para Games in Dubai after World Archery approved her customised equipment, making her the world’s first quadruple amputee archer to compete internationally.
Sister support
Her rise since then has been remarkable. Making her debut at the 2025 Jaipur Nationals, she defeated Sheetal to win double gold in the ranking and Olympic rounds.
She followed that with a silver at the Khelo India Para Games and another at the Nationals in Patiala earlier this year-both times finishing behind Sheetal.
HISTORIC WIN
Payal Nag — the world’s first double-amputee para-archer wins GOLD at the World Archery Para Series
Defeats reigning world champion Sheetal Devi in Bangkok
Pure grit. Pure inspiration. pic.twitter.com/IhXV28eX6m
— The Popcorn Buddy (@ThePopcornBuddy) April 4, 2026
And then came Bangkok-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.”
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 assists her even during competitions, summed it up best.
“People said many things… maybe because of that she became so strong,” Barsha told PTI from Bangkok.
“Today, her success is a response to all those remarks. I just want to thank those people.”
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