Arunima "Sonu" Sinha (born 1988) is the first female amputee
to climb Mount Everest. She is also the first Indian amputee to climb
Mount Everest. She was a national level volleyball player who was pushed out of a
running train by thieves in 2011 while resisting them. One of her legs
had to be amputated below the knee as a result.
Early life and career
Sinha is from Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, India. She had qualified as a Head Constable in the CISF in 2012.
Train accident
Sinha, a former national volleyball and football player,
boarded the Padmavati Express train at Lucknow for Delhi on 11 April
2011, to take an examination to join the CISF. She was pushed out of a
general coach of the train by thieves wanting to snatch her bag and gold
chain. Recounting the incident, she said
"I resisted and they pushed me out of the train. I could not move. I
remember seeing a train coming towards me. I tried getting up. By then,
the train had run over my leg. I don't remember anything after that" Immediately, as she fell on the
railway track, another train on a parallel track crushed her leg below
the knee. She was rushed to the hospital with serious leg and pelvic
injuries, and lost her leg after doctors amputated it to save her life. She was offered compensation of
INR25000 (US$380) by the Indian Sports Ministry. Following national
outrage, the Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Ajay Maken
announced an additional Rs. INR200000 (US$3,100) compensation as medical
relief, together with a recommendation for a job in the CISF. Indian
Railways also offered her a job.
On 18 April 2011, she was brought
to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences for further treatment,
spending four months at the Institute. She was provided a prosthetic leg
free of cost by a private Delhi-based Indian company. “Those four months
were the turning point of my life. I was quite literally reborn in the
trauma unit of AIIMS,” Sinha recalled in chaste Hindi, speaking of her antaratma, or inner soul, being wakened.
“Perhaps this was my destiny but I was determined to shape it myself
henceforth. Inspired by cricketer Yuvraj’s Singh battle against cancer,
even as I lay there on the bed, I resolved to achieve the impossible. As
an amputee, I dared to dream of Everest,” she boldly admitted.
An inquiry by the police into the
incident threw her version of the accident into doubt. According to the
police, she was either attempting suicide or met with an accident while
crossing the railway tracks. Arunima claimed that the police were
lying. Contrary to the police claims the Lucknow bench of Allahabad high
court ordered Indian Railways to pay a compensation of INR500000
(US$7,700) to Arunima Sinha.
Planning and Training
While still being treated in the All India Institute of
Medical Sciences, she resolved to climb Mount Everest, She was inspired
by cricketer Yuvraj Singh, who had successfully battled cancer, "to do
something" with her life. She excelled in the basic mountaineering
course from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi, and was
encouraged by her elder brother Omprakash to climb Everest with a
prosthetic leg. She contacted Bachendri Pal, the
first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest, in 2011 by telephone and
signed up for training under her at the Uttarkashi camp of the Tata
Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF) 2012.Sinha climbed Island Peak (6150
metres) in 2012 as preparation for her ascent of Everest
The climb
On 1 April 2013, Sinha and Susen Mahto, a TSAF instructor,
who had together climbed Mount Chhamser Kangri (6622 metres) in 2012
under the guidance of Bachendri Pal started their ascent of Mount
Everest. After a hard toil of 17 hours, Sinha reached the summit of
Mount Everest at 10:55 am on 21 May 2013, as part of the Tata
Group-sponsored Eco Everest Expedition, becoming the first female
amputee to scale Everest. She took 52 days to reach the summit.
Aftermath
She was congratulated by the Indian Sports Minister Jitendra
Singh on her achievement. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav
on Friday honoured Arunima Sinha, the first amputee to climb Mount
Everest.
Chief minister handed over two cheques for an amount of Rs. 25 lakh to
Sinha at a function organised at her 5-Kalidas Marg residence in
Lucknow.
These included a cheque of Rs. 20 lakh from the state government and a cheque of Rs. 5 lakh on behalf of the Samajwadi Party.
Chief minister said Sinha by her hard work and determination had climbed the Mount Everest and created a history. Arunima Sinha is now dedicated towards social welfare and she wants to
open a free sports academy for the poor and differently-abled persons.
She is donating all the financial aids she is getting through awards and
seminars for the same cause.The academy would be named Pandit Chandra
Shekhar Vikalang Khel Academy.
Launch Autobiography Book (Born Again on The Mountain) at PMO Office Delhi with Respected PM Mr. Narendra Modi.