Meet Raushan, the girl who lost both her legs in a train accident and is now a doctor

Raushan’s father, Jawwad Shaikh, is a pushcart vegetable vendor in Mumbai. Her mother is a homemaker. Raushan is the third among four siblings. Raushan, who had her eyes set on pursuing Medicine, lost both her legs on 16 October 2008, after being pushed out of a crowded local train near Andheri in Mumbai. She was returning home after writing her college exams. When she neared the door of the train at Andheri station, the other women commuters started jostling – that’s when Raushan lost her balance. As she fell onto the tracks, her legs came under the moving train. Hearing Raushan’s screams, some commuters pulled the chain to stop the train. In the accident, Raushan’s lower limbs were severed at the ankle and the thigh. Adjusting to the physical changes was not the only battle Raushan faced. There is a rule that allows only people with “up to 70% challenge” to study Medicine but Raushan was found to be 88% challenged post-accident. The government found her “unfit” to study Medicine. Raushan moved the Bombay high court in order to be able to study medicine despite qualifying in the entrance exam. Raushan’s ordeal has come to a happy close. She has secured a first class in her final MBBS examination, eight years after losing both her legs.