NEW DELHI: Ivanka Trump, the daughter of US President
Donald Trump and also the senior White House adviser, on Friday praised the heroic tale of a 15-year-old Indian girl, who had pedaled 1,200km in seven days from Haryana's Gurgaon to her native village in Bihar, carrying her ailing father on the rear seat of her bicycle during the
national lockdown
.
Highlighting the story of the pandemic-struck Indian family, Ivanka tweeted: "15-yr-old Jyoti Kumari, carried her wounded father to their home village on the back of her bicycle covering +1,200 km over 7 days. This beautiful feat of endurance & love has captured the imagination of the Indian people and the cycling federation!Flag of India."
Mesmerised with Jyoti's exceptional display of strength and endurance,
Cycling Federation of India
Chairman Onkar Singh recently said that if Kumari, a Class VIII student, passed a bicycle trial, she will be selected as a trainee at
National Cycling Academy
at the IGI Stadium complex. "We spoke to the girl and we have told her that she will be called to Delhi next month as soon as the lockdown is lifted. All the expenses of her travel, lodging and other will be borne by us," Singh had recently told a news agency.
More on Covid-19Jyoti took the challenging task when her father, Mohna Paswan, an autorickshaw driver in Gurgaon, got injured in an incident and the lockdown left him without any money. With no cash in hand, Paswan had to even return the autorickshaw to the owner.
With no income to continue in Gurgaon, Jyoti and her father then started for their native village in Bihar on May 10 on a bicycle, that they bought after arranging some cash. Carrying her injured father on the rear seat, she pedaled and pedaled for days and reached her village in Bihar on May 16. Her heroic tale later went viral.
Besides the Indian family, Ivanka, who actively tweets on politics and labour policies, also highlighted the story of another pandemic-hit family in the US. She commented about the emotional reunion of an elderly American couple, who spent months apart due to the pandemic. Tweeting a video of 89-year-old Jean and 91-year-old Walter Willard, who have been married for 70 years, kissing after getting reunited at their nursing home in Troy, New York, she commented: Beautiful! God bless you both!
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