Col Navjot Singh Bal, Shaurya Chakra, former CO 2 PARA (SF), passed away earlier this morning, 09 April 2020, losing his last battle to cancer. A son, husband, father & brother to many, remember his service to the Nation. Below are some motivation lines about Col Navjot Singh Bal shared by Maj Malik.
- When I met my CO Col NS Bal, SC in football field way back in May 2018 I thought some young officer(Lt/Capt) is playing given the tremendous amount of energy and effort he was putting in the game. His fitness was remarkable and he displayed unique dynamism in day to day routine activities. During routine training, he observed slight swelling in his right arm after doing a marathon of chin-ups. I thought that swelling could have developed due to exertion or haematoma. However, after radiological evaluation, it was found to be some mass involving muscle of the right arm. And then commenced a chain of lengthy and tedious work up like biopsy and MRI.
- Finally, it was revealed that there is some rare type of cancer called telangiectatic osteosarcoma right arm. Subsequently, he was managed with chemotherapy and amputation right arm. Despite losing an arm to cancer, Col Navjot Singh Bal continued to serve in 2 Para as the commanding officer and even learnt to fire with his left hand. Unfortunately, it turned out to be aggressive cancer with metastasis occurring at a fast rate and soon cancer spread to lungs, liver and heart.
- I salute to the indomitable spirit of Col Bal and he consistently highlighted it in his routine work despite the aggressive spread of cancer. Fighting all odds, once he ran 21Km half marathon in spite of cancer hampering his normal breathing and debunked the common notion of defeatability. He was an absolute champion. A true Special Forces warrior. He exhibited optimism and cheerfulness round the clock. He is a perfect testimony of how a person with cancer should live his normal life.
- On one occasion during routine cancer checkup treating Onco physician was amazed to see his motivation and cheerfulness during interaction and he remarked that I have not seen a cancer patient in my life with so much positive attitude
- When the entire world was battling Corona pandemic, Col NS Bal, SC was fighting a more lethal entity than Coronavirus. Hopefully, mankind shall vanquish this enemy one day. Finally, he succumbed to aggressive cancer on 09 Apr 2020 and soul departed. Sir, you shall forever remain a champion and inspiration for us. RIP??Maj Sanjeev Malik, RMO 2 Para SF.
