Arunima Sinha: The World's First Woman Amputee Who Conquered Mount Everest

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Tragedy strikes almost everyone, and only few people prove themselves to be bigger than the situation they are in. Accepting the vagaries of life, equanimously, swallowing the tears of disappointment, they summon up their courage and will, to soar higher like a phoenix bird, from the ashes of hopelessness and despair. They receive their blows with grace and faith and use their defeats as the stepping stones for their success.

One such brave woman, Arunima Sinha occupies the pride of place in our country as she is an absolute picture of confidence and will to rise above the ordinary. She is one of those achievers, who started with a drawback, and ended up in triumph. She eminently deserves to be remembered on the Women's day that falls on Wednesday March 8, 2023 this year.

Born in 1988, Arunima Sinha is credited with two firsts, firstly being the first national level volleyball and football player and more importantly the first ever Indian woman to scale the Mount Everest. Her desire was to join the paramilitary but decided finally to take the exams for CISF.

Arunima's Childhood

Arunima Sinha was born in 20 July 1988 in Uttar Pradesh. Losing her father, who was in the army, at a tender age and having no one to look up to, it was her mother who brought up singlehandedly in challenging circumstances, wherein things still looked normal and hopeful to her, as she was made of a sterner mettle. She also acquired an LLB degree from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering and received the highest academic qualification of doctorate from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow later.

The Fatal Train Accident

Coming back to her situations in her life, one fatal day the disaster struck and brought her dreams to a total collapse. Her life looked gloomy but it was also a turning point in her life, which showed her how to be a reservoir of strength. It was a fatal train accident that left her injured to the extent a kid of her age cannot handle. She was travelling her way from Lucknow to Delhi in 2011 by Padmavati Express when she was attacked by a bunch of goons who tried to nab her gold chain that was given to her by her mother. She resisted fiercely but these vicious men threw her out of the train in Bareilly which got her left leg stuck in the middle of the tracks after which about 40 trains passed her by.

As she lay bleeding, in the throes of death, people gathered around her and soon admitted her to the AIIMS in New Delhi where she fought for her life for 4 months and finally emerged victorious. Probably destiny did not allow her to die as it had geared her up for something better. A prosthetic leg was fixed and she was advised to rest. Her relatives and family kept pulling her morale down but Arunima did not want to accept defeat.

Aftermath Of The Accident

She had a serious pelvic injury alongside and thankfully was offered compensation by the Indian Sports Ministry and the Minister of State for Youth affairs. She also landed a job by the Indian Railways. Arunima's dream was to be top of the world in some way or the other. Somehow the idea of mountaineering fascinated her, and she decided on the spot that her next step she would take would not be in the field of volleyball but mountaineering. She had to scale the Everest in order to prove something to herself and the people around her.

If she had given up at this stage, we would have lost a rare gem and a deserving candidate who achieved impossible feats to do India proud. She flew the tricolor on Kilimanjaro, then on the roof Africa and then the Mount Elbrus in Europe. Her real disability was that she had to be on the assisted living mode all her life. But her spirits were not daunted even a bit and she won her goal step by step.

The Meeting With Bachendri Pal That Changed Her Life

She completed an 18 month course from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering and headed to Bachendri Pal, the first ever woman Everest Climber to avail guidance. On 21 May 2013, at 10:55 am, she reached the highest peak of the Mount Everest. She was literally on top of the world now. She covered over six peaks in different countries and was awarded the glorious honour of Padmashri. She has written a book namely "Born again in mountains" which was released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 November.

Her first marriage happened in the year 2012 which soon broke up. The second time, in 2018 she married for the second time to a Para-Olympian player Gaurav Singh from Lucknow.