A Hindi poem by Harivansh Rai Bachchan, when translated, says, “The one who tries, never fails.” But when you meet with an accident that feels like a terrible dream, and all your hopes are giving up, will you be able to act on such a thing? Will you be able to keep on trying instead of giving up?
Khushbu Goplani is currently a senior consultant and business development at an IT company. She was finishing her graduation when she met with an accident. After that night of the accident, her life was a path of thorns, but she never gave up. Khushbu proved that no one could stop one if one believes in something. Let’s hear the story from her:
Khushbu Goplani – My Story
I was born in a very close-knit joint family in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. I completed my schooling at Ujjain. For graduation, I moved to Pune. While in my third year of graduation, around 2015, I was traveling back to my home for Rakhi celebrations. Rakhi was on 27th August, and I boarded the bus on 25th around 6:40 p.m. from Pune. It was a night journey, so I settled down for a comfortable seat. Mom was on a call with me when a lady with a small child approached me.
She asked me if I could exchange my lower seat with her upper seat. I had always given up earlier whenever asked. But that day, I denied her as I had already put my bedding and taken my blanket out. Mom had listened to all of this on the phone. She nagged me for not giving up the seat. I was very much irritated, so I asked her to hang up.
We reached Shirdi by 10 p.m. The bus halted for 10 minutes for a bathroom and snack break. Again, my mom called, stating that she was feeling uneasy. It was already her fifth call in the four hours I had traveled. I told her not to call, and I will be seeing her tomorrow directly. We talked about what food I will be eating tomorrow before hanging up. After that, I kept my phone aside and slept.
It was around 11:30 at night when all of a sudden, my eyes opened. A man with his seat had fallen on my right leg. I came back to my senses and tried to figure out what was happening around me. It was very chaotic. The bus had run into a truck. Twenty people died on the spot, while only seven survived. People were trying to take out the bodies through the emergency back door. Because the front of the bus was on fire and it was spreading.
People removed the man’s body from my leg, but I felt no sensation. I could feel pain only in my spine and hand, which had tiny shreds of glasses in them. I had sensed that something significant had happened with my leg. I managed to gather the parts of my mobile to switch it on before coming out of the bus. I was the last one to get out of the bus.
The ambulance finally reached the accident spot. But instead of taking injured people to the hospital, the medical staff took dead bodies first. There was only one ambulance. I laid on the footpath intensely in pain till my time came to board the ambulance. I was losing my consciousness repeatedly. When I became conscious, they asked for my family member’s number.
My mother did not pick the call until it rang for the third time. She thought it was some prank call I had pulled when the attendant informed her about the accident. She cut the call and went back to sleep. In the fourth attempt, she believed I had met with an accident after talking to me over the phone. My family tried to call me on my phone, but I was in too much pain and couldn’t talk due to the swelling.
I was the last one to arrive at the hospital. My family was not there to sign the consent papers, so the hospital kept me in a separate ward. The whole night I was on painkillers. My friends from Pune arrived in the morning by 5-5:30. My family also arrived after one hour. Then, I went for x-rays. The report said that I had a lot of internal bleeding. The poison would spread to my other body parts if doctors did not cut the right leg on time.
I was shocked by the news. I was a national-level badminton player, and one of the things that I loved the most about my body were my legs. My world fell apart when the doctor said that I had to carry on without my right leg for my whole life. I begged my brother to take my life because I did not want to spend my life on one leg at any cost.
I shifted to a better center in Pune after some evaluation. I went through all the examinations again. The doctor-in-charge notified me that my knees bones were in almost fifty pieces now due to the accident. The accident tore apart my ligaments. But the doctor decided to take a chance and operate on my leg. I got to know that the doctor was a national badminton player himself. I kept asking him if I would ever be able to run and play. But the doctor indicated to my mom that I wouldn’t ever walk without a walker.
Finally, my operation procedure started. I went through four operations, one on my femur and three on my knee. I had one rod, thirty-two screws, and one plate at the end of it. I was in a hospital bed all day and night reading motivational novels that my brother had gifted me. One night, I felt an itch in my leg.
I started to scratch off the bandage. When it was all off, and I saw the condition of my legs, I screamed. There was a 14.5-inch ugly scar on my leg. I broke down crying, thinking about what the doctors had done to my legs. My whole life came crashing down. The next day, I realized that this was my life now. It wasn’t easy, but I tried to console myself.
I was blessed to have a doctor who helped me throughout the procedure. He kept on motivating me whenever I felt depressed. Post my surgery. I got discharged from the hospital after 29 days. The doctor, while discharging, stated that I would not be able to walk on my legs ever again. My entire life will be on a walker. I returned to Ujjain, where my physiotherapy began.
The physiotherapy was tough for my family and me. I would scream and shout in pain during the therapy. My mother could not bear it. So, she kept herself locked in another room. One day, I visited my badminton court with a walker. While talking, I started crying in front of my badminton coach. My badminton coach was the only person who did not see me as someone with a disability. He motivated me in a way that no one could. He told me that these accidents keep on happening in life. I shouldn’t be in a corner crying my whole life. I must get up and go on with life.
From there, I started trying to walk and do things on my own instead of cursing my fate. After the physiotherapy, I started getting back to my life. I enrolled for an MBA in Mumbai. The first year of my college was on a walker. Many people made fun of me, called me “langri ghori” and whatnot. A person once came up to me, and he asked if I had polio because of the limping. All this time, I was in connection with my coach. I wanted to do something, to prove to people that my disability was not the only thing that defined me. He advised me to go trekking.
I went on my first solo trek on 1st January 2017. It was a one-night 1250 meters high fort trek. Once I completed my first trek successfully, I did not stop. Till now, I have finished thirty-two treks in total. The only trek left was of the highest peak of Maharashtra. But it overlapped with my operation to remove the implants. I told them that I would visit the hospital once I finished the trek.
I completed the monsoon trek on 3rd July 2018. And I went to the hospital on the 9th to remove my implants and screws. The doctor was also in awe of my courage. I got a placement soon afterward. Last year, I went for a teacher’s training in yoga. I hit the gym every day, and people call me a gym-alcoholic /gym addict. Today people who meet me can’t even identify any difference in my leg. The scar is there, but I have started wearing skirts and shorts.
I have learned to embrace the scar with every other flaw of mine. I am now an entirely changed person. I feel like a better person. Now, I take an interest in people and have started accepting them. I have developed many attributes. I leave no moment to express my feelings for any person because I am aware that anything can happen the next moment.
My parents, family, and friends were like a rock to me through all of this. Because of their support, I accepted that I was in an accident. Once I could take that in, I started believing in myself. I live in the moment now. I give myself credit for coming out of the accident so bravely. If I had to put in a gist of what my life and accident taught me, it would be to keep going. No matter what life throws at you, keep moving without having any regrets, and in the end, you will realize nothing is more significant than your courage and willpower.
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