By a Special Sports Correspondent

The passing away of national badminton player Oshadee Kuruppu was a big loss for the game even if it didn’t come as a shock for her family members.

Oshadee was suffering from leukemia and was diagnosed with the illness in 2020 July. Till then her life was pretty good; having achieved most of her life’s goals. She had played badminton at the highest level and was the proud recipient of a silver medal at the 2009 Asian Junior Under 16 Badminton Championships; contesting the girls’ doubles event. Completing her school education at Visaka College she was selected to pursue a degree in Sports Science at the Sabaragamuwa University. Her interests in badminton continued at university and she was able to represent her academic institute at the World University Games. She was even employed at MAS in the Human Resources Division and also got positive responses for job applications when she sought state sector employment. Her illness curtailed the time she spent on employment.

She was a determined girl and sports had driven into her that fighting spirit. No challenge in life was too big for her. That’s how her brother Virajith described his late sister.

But two years ago after returning home from training she had complained of being under the weather. “She said that she had felt unusually tired. At one time had seen two shuttlecocks while playing badminton; suggesting a certain adverse body condition had given impaired vision. Oshadee suggested we see a doctor and a blood test done a few hours after her training session revealed that her hemoglobin count in the blood had dropped drastically. She was asked to admit herself immediately because medical experts wanted to inject blood into her body,” recalled Viranjith.

Her world started collapsing slowly after that. But the good news for her was that all her loved ones, friends and most importantly her boyfriend Akila Dahanayake were right behind her. She was in and out of hospitals and when her condition was deteriorating her family sent her to India for extensive treatment. Though she was receiving treatment at Apeksha Hospital she was given a new lease of life when receiving treatment in India under the guidance of Dr. Mallikar Arjun. She made amazing progress there within 45 days and returned to a somewhat stable condition before coming back to Sri Lanka.

Her treatment in India was made possible due to the generous contribution made by well-wishers (Mostly Old Visakians). This social media group was able to raise around Rs 10 million. According to Viranjith there were other donors contributing and the total efforts produced a fund worth Rs 15 million which was sufficient to send her to India for treatment.

However despite making it to India, the plans to perform a donor transplant didn’t materialize. The donor chosen for this mission was Oshadee’s mother. But according to Viranjith his mom had become unsuitable to continue being the donor because of altering antibodies within her (mother) body. Oshadee was given a strong dose of chemotherapy as the alternative and sent back to Sri Lanka.

Her family is grateful to all who made contributions to enable Oshadee receive the best of treatment in India. Special mention must be made of Sri Lanka Badminton President Rohan De Silva for his contributions made personally to lift the spirits of Oshadee’s family when the chips were really down and funds were needed for treatment. The family is also grateful to Dr. Buddhika Somawardene who treated Oshadee at Apeksha Hospital.

The first few days of February had started off promisingly for Oshadee. She wanted to visit many people, eat the food that she loved and spend time with her boyfriend Akila. But suddenly her condition had started to deteriorate and she was rushed to the hospital once again. She was pronounced dead on February 8 and the cause of death, according to the hospital, was cardiac arrest. She was 27 years old at the time of death.

When contacted her boyfriend Akila said that they were to get married in 2020 August, but Oshadee was diagnosed with the disease and she had started showing symptoms in July that year. Akila had been a great strength to Oshadee and stood by her during this ordeal. Even at the funeral it had been Akila who had attended to most of the matters concerning the final rites.

“She was a courageous person and faced her condition without fear. She used to seek information on google and knew what the doctors were doing at each stage of her illness. But there came a time when she said that she was tired and had had enough. But her condition improved again and she was facing life. Then death came and took her away,” said Akila.

Chintaka Fernando, who coached her in badminton during the 2009 Asian Youth Championships, said that he was amazed by the courage shown by Oshadee during her battle with the illness. “She wanted to live and never gave up. She was a committed badminton players and played at the highest level. Apart from all that she was a very friendly person; hence everybody loved her,” said Fernando.

The last rites for the late Oshadee Kuruppu were performed at the Godigamuwa Public Cemetery on February 10. The badminton fraternity will have fond memories of Oshadee’s fighting skills in the badminton court here and abroad, but those who knew her outside the sport will remember a charming lady who won everybody’s hearts with her charming smile and gracious manners.