When he was 12 years of age, city-based student Sahil Sheikh lost both his hands in an accident in 2009, leaving him traumatised for two years. With the support and encouragement from his friends, family and teachers, he started going to school and began writing with his feet. Without the help of a writer, he managed to score 54 per cent in this 10th board exams. This year, Sahil scored 73 per cent in the HSC exam, for which he appeared externally from Poona College. However, Sahil isn’t happy with his percentage. “I was expecting more than 80 per cent. I think I lost in the language subjects in which I was a bit weak,” says this student of commerce. Sahil stays with his parents and grandparents in Wadgaonsheri. His father is a tempo driver and his mother a housewife. [related-post] Talking about his study schedule prior to the exams, he said, “I was attending coaching classes for all the subjects for two hours a day. Besides that, I would study whenever I had some free time on my hands.” Recalling the day when the accident took both his hands from him, he says, “On that day I was on my house’s terrace practising with an iron rod for a cultural programme at my school. However, the rod accidentally came in contact with a high tension wire. I sustained serious burn injuries and doctors advised me to amputate my hands to avoid the spread of poison to other parts of my body.” Sahil said it took him at least a year to get used to writing with his feet, but now he is very comfortable. Though he is allowed to take a writer for his exams according to the rules, Sahil has been able to manage without one so far. “This way, I am responsibly for my performance. What if I take a writer and he makes some mistake while writing, I will lost marks because of him. Given my condition, I am given an extra hour also which is sufficient,” says Sahil, who aspires to become a chartered accountant. Currently, he plans to take an admission for a B.Comm course.
