Details

Arunima Sinha

World's First Female Amputee to Summit Mt Everest

Who am I

Arunima "Sonu" Sinha is the first female amputee to climb Mount Everest. She is also the first Indian amputee to climb Mount Everest.

Biography:

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.

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. Thieves wanting to snatch her bag and gold chain pushed her out of a general coach of the train. 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.

On 18 April 2011, she was brought to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences for further treatment, spending four months at the Institute. A private Delhi-based Indian company provided her with a prosthetic leg free of cost.

An inquiry by the police into the incident through 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 INR 500000 (US$7,700) to Arunima Sinha.

Everest:

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. He 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 Mahato, 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:

The Indian Sports Minister Jitendra Singh congratulated her on her achievement. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday honoured Arunima Sinha, the first Indian amputee to climb Mount Everest.

The Chief Minister said Sinha by her hard work and determination had climbed the Mount Everest and created a history.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, launched “Born Again on the Mountain”, a book by Arunima about her unforgettable story on December 12, 2014