Preethi Srinivasan  

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Preethi Srinivasan (born 1979)^[1] was the captain of the under-19 Tamil Nadu women's cricket team,^[2] and lead the state team to the national championships in 1997 at the age of 17. After surviving an accident that left her quadriplegic,^[3] she co-founded Soulfree, a foundation that champions the causes of restoring, rehabilitating, and re-integrating those suffering lethal spinal cord injuries and spreads awareness on its prevention among Indian youth.^[4]

She was also a title-holder swimmer, having won a state gold in 50 m breaststroke and silver in other events.^[5] She is also delivers talks on disability issues.

Education and early years[edit]

Preethi graduated from Upper Merion Area High School, Pennsylvania, USA in 1997 and was awarded the academic honours for outstanding accomplishment and excellence in academics for year 1996/97 along with other recognitions. In class 12, she was among United States of America’s top 2 percent merit students and was awarded representation with Who’s Who Among American high school students.^{[citation needed]} Due to her father’s transferable job, Preethi got the opportunity to extensively travel and learn about different cultures/traditions.^{[citation needed]}

After her accident, she took up a Bachelor correspondence course in Medical Sociology from the University of Madras. She also holds interest in music, art, films, and literature. She considers her mother, Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Srinivasan, a constant source of encouragement and backing.^[7]

Recognition[edit]

• Vijay TV’s “Sigaram Thotta Pengal – Ray of Hope” award^[8]
• Raindropss’ “Woman Achiever of the Year 2014” award
• Femina “Penn Sakthi” award bestowed upon the top 10 most influential women in Tamil Nadu for the year 2014
• Envisage ability award 2014...
• Sudesi magazine’s “Dhruva award” for excellence in social work
• The Rotary’s highest award “For the Sake of Honour”
• Agent of change” Award from district Rotaract Council (Rotary International district 3230) for the year 2014–15
• Kalpana Chawla award from Tamil Nadu CM^[9]

Career[edit]

Preethi’s organization Soulfree is a charitable organization that was founded with the aim of "transforming the lives of people with disablities".