Time did not heal the condition Nisha Gupta was in, but her acceptance of the situation did. The sudden change in her life was painful. But staying stuck in the same situation would have been worse. She soon realised it was time to start something new and ultimately began to trust the magic of new beginnings. Sharing her startling life journey, Nisha says,
“I completed my HSC from Mumbai University in 2004. After my board exams I visited my native place Varanasi with my parents for a vacation. I was a very adventurous and naughty girl who could never sit in one place. On the 1st of May 2004 while trying to pluck mangoes from a tree I had an accidental fall. I sustained a head and spinal cord injury and was left with no movement and sensation in my lower limbs. My family and friends began to panic and rushed me to the nearest hospital which was more than 2 hours away.
Due to my head injury I was bleeding profusely. At the hospital, I was told that not walking was the least of my problems. A spinal cord injury meant that I no longer had control of my bowel and bladder. This was unimaginable and everyone was dumbfounded at how we will be able to cope up with this complication.The doctor suggested that I should undergo a spinal surgery to try and stabilize my spine and spinal cord. On the recommendation of friends and other doctors we were told to come to Mumbai for treatment.
The 24-hour long journey to Mumbai took its toll on my health as I was only on glucose. On 6th May 2004, my operation was done successfully with the blessings and prayers of everyone.
At this point only my dad knew the severity of my condition, I was still living with the hope that my condition will improve and I will recover. I was discharged from the hospital on 18th May and began my rehabilitation at All India Institute of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Haji Ali. Here with the help of physiotherapy I was taught how to sit and stand with calipers.
Almost 3 months passed but there was no improvement. I asked the doctor about my injury. He said that I will never walk again. It was hard to believe that I will be on the wheelchair my entire life. I was completely shattered, traumatized and went into deep depression. I had lost the will to live and had given up. Once I returned home I seldom left the bed and spent all my time sleeping and watching TV. This went on for 4 years. Dr. Anil Gaur referred me to Nina Foundation. The objective of the Foundation is to spread hope and optimism amongst the spinal cord injured. They encourage its members to live an independent life.
In a few months they organized spinal cord injury awareness program at Welingkar College. As I entered the hall, I was surprised to see many paraplegics and quadriplegics on wheelchair. For the 1st time I felt I am not alone. Here I met Dr. Ketna Mehta the founder of Nina foundation and Sunita Sancheti a very enthusiastic member and volunteer. Both of them were paraplegics.
Ketna didi inspired me a lot. I came back home and shared my experience with my parents. Then I realized this is my new life & I have to accept it & take it as a challenge.
Slowly but surely I began to work from home. I started with a data entry job but my dream was to be a tattoo artist. I shared my feelings with my childhood friend, Kavita who introduced me to her tattoo artist friend who came over to my house daily for 3 months to teach me. I was good at drawing and learned very fast. This completely changed my life and I began to follow my passion. I regained my lost confidence and began participating in a number of activities like Mumbai marathon, wheelchair dancing, swimming, badminton. I even participated in the Miss Wheelchair India 2013 contest. I started going out more often with my friends and cousins. We visit malls and gardens as most of Mumbai is not wheelchair friendly.
In September 2014, I attended a swimming competition in Dharavi and got inspired by it. Despite my family discouraging me to do so I learned how to swim and participated at the State and National Para swimming competition where I won many Gold and Silver medals in 2014 and 2015. I learned how to swim. Thanks to the support from my friend, Mr. Oliver D’souza and The Nina Foundation who supported me to travel for competitions. In December 2015, I participated in the National wheelchair Basketball championship held in Delhi and won many accolades along with a bronze medal.
My passion for sports and life has never been so high. Today I am proud to say that I am an independent Indian Paraplegic Girl who believes she can achieve anything she can imagine.”
The journey of Nisha Gupta, from being an immature young girl to a passionate lady ready to take on any challenge, has never been short of obstacles. Every difficult situation brought out the best in her and made her worthy of all the respect and appreciation she gets today.
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