Mangalore, September 9: On Friday September 12th between 10.00 am to 12.00 pm; a motivational Interaction with Mountaineer- Arunima Sinha will be organised by Yuva Brigade Karnataka at Sanghanikethan in Mangalore.
Born in 1988, Arunima “Sonu” Sinha, is the first female amputee as well as the first Indian amputee to climb Mount Everest.
She was a national-level volleyball player who was pushed out of a moving train by thieves in 2011; while opposing them. She had boarded the Padmavati Express train at Lucknow for Delhi on April 11th 2011, to appear for 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. As she fell on the railway track, another train on a parallel track immediately 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.
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 in 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.
As a preparation for her ascent of Everest, Sinha climbed Island Peak (6150 metres) in 2012.Arnima Sinha is now dedicated towards social welfare and she wants to open a free sports academy for the poor and differently-abled persons.
On April 1st 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 May 21st 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.
She had written a small message thanking the Almighty on a wrapped cloth and pressed it in the snow. Recalling the incident, she said “It was my tribute to Shankar Bhagwan and Swami Vivekananda who has been an inspiration throughout my life”.
