“When life gives you a hundred reasons to break down and cry, show life that you have a million reasons to smile and laugh.” This quote is an inspiration in itself but people who have lived their life believing in these words are way more inspiring than these words.
Our today’s anecdote is a soul-stirring story as it is based on Vikram Agnihotri’s life. In his childhood, he dreamed of being a footballer, but an unusual event turned his whole life upside down. In that accident, he lost both hands. Imagine being handicapped at the age of 7. You can’t right.
We can’t even imagine living our lives without hands but this man-made his feet his strength. He trained his legs to do all things that we do with our hands. He played games, did many other activities that are impossible for a human being to do without involving hands. Moreover, he learned to drive from his feet and then went on to become the first Indian who received a driving license. Surely, ‘People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do it.’
When we got to know about this person, we couldn’t stop ourselves from talking to him. We wanted to know more about his challenging life, so we asked him to share it with us and he agreed to do it. Today, the “Hatke Story” has brought you an inspirational story of Vikram Agnihotri, whose name has been recorded in the Limca Book of Records for becoming the first Indian bilateral upper amputee who has been issued a permanent driving license. Let us hear his story.
Vikram Agnihotri – My Story
I’m Vikram Agnihotri. I am from Indore. Currently, I’m running a business and I have my own gas agency. Aside from this, I hold the position of chairman in an NGO named ‘Vital Spark.’ This NGO’s mission is to motivate disabled people in schools and colleges. The main objective of this organization is to encourage those persons who think their lives are over after losing a particular body part or being disabled from birth.
We have given it a brand name as WIL means “Winners in Life.” Our NGO provides vocational training as well as Athletic Training to disabled individuals. So they can live their lives without seeking anyone’s support. We did it because in the present era, amputees are also taking interest in sports and they are earning names by participating in competitions like Paralympics…
Other than this, there are no such associations that provide training to these persons, except some national academies. So I have planned to start a sports Academy in Indore but due to covid, this project is still incomplete though we are trying to finish it on time.
I took this initiative because “I want the physically challenged to know that there are tons of things they can do”, Besides these, I’m working as a zonal committee member at the Rehabilitation Council of India. My own life inspired me to work for these people. I have seen disability throughout my life and I know how difficult it can be for an individual to deal with disability.
This incident took place in my life back in June 1977. I was barely six and a half years old. We were at our relative’s house. My brother and I were playing on the terrace along with their children. There was a high current line of 11KV that passed over their house. Keeping that wire in the house was against the safety norms still it was there, hanging naked. We didn’t know about it and we didn’t care either. Children obviously don’t pay attention to such things.
You won’t believe their children used to swing over the guard wire and no one ever stopped them from doing it. So they were doing the same thing and I also joined them. All of us were looming over the guard wire as if it was some swing. Our parents were sitting inside and they had no clue about it.
After a while, due to the heavy weight, we lost our balance on the guard wire and started dangling in the air. Their kids left the wire and it came in contact with the high tension 11KV wire. This imbalance resulted in a heavy spark that passed through the whole wire and in that very moment, my hands came in contact with the same high tension line. For six and a half-year-old boy, the shock was too extreme to handle. It attacked my hand and ended up burning them. Luckily, my body was above the ground and that’s why my hands were attacked only. The remaining body was fine and in intact condition.
The news reached my parents and in a minute the whole environment was filled with tension. They somehow got me away from the wire and within a few minutes, I was rushed to hospital. Later, I was admitted to the Bombay hospital. For three months, doctors tried saving my original hands but they couldn’t because gangrene started setting in my hands. Due to gangrene, there was a risk of the venom spreading throughout the body.
So after three months of treatment, the doctors suggested cutting my arms so they can prevent the spread of infection. My parents didn’t have any other option left but to abide by them. So they went ahead with the process and then that’s how I lost my hands.
From here, began another phase of my life because both my hands were amputated. I stayed in the hospital for a while before getting discharged. Sometime later, they released me. Coming out was tough and I remember I was taken everywhere in a wheelchair.
They did it because for three months I was glued to the hospital bed and it had killed my leg muscles. I was barely able to stand. To get me out of the state, they used to take me in a garden and keep a football in front of me. Then they’d tell me to kick off. So that I could get up and I couldn’t even do that. It would have been heartbreaking for anyone but I was too immature to realize it.
To be continued…
Come back to read part-2 of this story.
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