Boxing icon and Asian Games cold medallist Ngangom Dingko Singh was flown on Saturday from Imphal to Delhi by SpiceJet’s air ambulance service for his liver cancer treatment. At a time when no airline is operational due to lockdown, the airline provided the air ambulance service free of charge to the Padma awardee.
Suffering a relapse and confined in his home in Imphal due to the coronavirus-induced nation-wide lockdown, Dingko had asked help from the Sports Ministry to travel to the national capital.
He won a gold medal at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok and inspired fellow Manipur-native MC Mary Kom to take up the sport.
Ajay Singh, Chairman & Managing Director, SpiceJet, said, “I am to happy share that Dingko, our champion boxer, has reached Delhi and has been taken to hospital for further treatment. SpiceJet is honoured to have provided its air ambulance service to our national hero and fly him to Delhi for his treatment and we wish him a speedy recovery.”
The decorated boxer along with his wife, Ngangom Babai Devi flew from Imphal. The decision to fly Dingko to Delhi in an air ambulance was taken by Ajay Singh, who is also the President of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI).
The 41-year-old former boxer reached the capital today in the evening (6:15 pm) and was headed to the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) in an ambulance, straight from the airport.
BFI will be keeping a close watch on the Boxing legend's treatment and progress.
Veteran boxers like Vijender Singh, Manoj Kumar and others also stepped in to offer financial help for the Arjuna awardee.
"We have a WhatsApp group… Manoj posted about Dingko on it. We got his bank details and all of us have been chipping in with whatever we can manage.
"Dingko is a hero, an icon for us. We had to come forward because every boxer deserves that his community comes to his aid at the hour of need," Vijender Singh told PTI.
