After losing both her arms in a railway accident that shocked Mumbai last year, 18-year-old Monica More on Wednesday came out with flying colours in the Class XII examination, scoring an impressive 63 per cent marks.
Ms More, who was fitted with myoelectric-controlled prosthetic arms in July 2014, continued her education in Commerce at TD Mehta Junior College in Ghatkopar, and appeared for the Maharashtra State Board Higher Secondary Certificate examination held in March with the help of a writer.
“I am very happy and grateful to Aishwarya who wrote the papers for me,” a thrilled Ms More said. Aishwarya is a Class XI student who assisted her as a writer for the examinations.
Her father Ashok More said though Monica can write with the prosthetic arms, a writer was required as she had to finish the examination paper within the prescribed three hour limit.
Ms More lost both her arms in a suburban train accident at Ghatkopar railway station in January 2014 when she slipped between a foot-long gap between the platform and the ladies compartment footboard, and fell on the railway track. As the accident shocked most commuters, two Muslim youths rushed her to the hospital with the severed arms, but they could not be surgically re-attached. After six months of treatment at the KEM Hospital, Monica was fitted with advanced prosthetic arms manufactured by German company Otto Bock which enabled her to write, eat on her own, pick up, and drink a glass of water, and even use a laptop.
The battery-operated prosthetic arms, each weighing 1.5 kg, can be controlled with impulses generated naturally by human muscles and can provide greater finer flexibility, improved hand functioning, and better grip. Treating hers as a special case, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) allocated Rs 23 lakh towards the cost of the arms.
