Unknown Heroes
By Mr. Rohan Vij, BBA II yr, Department of Management
Arunima Sinha – Volley Ball Player Turned Mountaineer
She Was Never Quite Ready. But She Was Brave.
And
The Universe Bows Down to Brave….
Here’s an inspiring story of a volleyball player that became the World’s first woman Amputee to reach highest peak of Antarctica, Mount Vinson, in 2013.
Arunima, who is from Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh lost one of her legs in a horrific incident, when she was thrown off the moving Padmawati Express train for resisting a chain-snatching attempt by hooligans in 2011. According to her, some hoodlums jumped onto the train and began robbing passengers. Arunima, who was trying to protect her and the co-passengers, was pushed off the train and fell on a parallel railway track. Unfortunately, there was another train passing on the parallel track and it ran over one of Arunima’s legs. As a result, the leg had to be amputated.
She was then brought to the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences, where she spent 4 months. A private company provided her a prosthetic leg.
If You Have Courage to Begin, You Have The Courage to Succeed.
Adverse conditions could not diminish her spirit. It was after this incident that Arunima decided to become a mountaineer and scale the highest peaks in the world. Arunima displayed immense self-belief and determination and refused to give up. She got in touch with Bachendri Pal, the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest in 1984 to train under her after making up her mind to be a mountaineer. And since then she hasn’t had to look back.
Despite being an amputee, Arunima fueled her desire to conquer the highest peaks in the world with hard work and steady focus, turning into a hugely inspirational figure. Apart from Everest, Arunima has also scaled Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, Elbrus in Europe, Kosciuszko in Australia and Aconcagua in Argentina. In 2015 Arunima was conferred the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour in India.
