National-level volleyball player Arunima Sinha, who lost her left leg after being thrown out of a moving train... Read More

JAMSHEDPUR: A national-level volleyball player who lost her left leg after being thrown out of a moving train in Bareilly in April last year doesn't appear to have lost her spirit and determination. Arunima Sinha has scaled Chamser Kangri mountain in Ladakh, becoming an inspiration for differently-abled sportspeople.

The 24-year-old climbed 21,110 feet with three other teammates on September 3 after training for months with Bachendri Pal , the first Indian woman to conquer Mt Everest.

"Incessant rain, snowfall and poor light prevented me from climbing another 600ft to reach the peak of Chamser Kangri but I successfully scaled 21,110ft which no other disabled woman has climbed so far in history," said Arunima speaking over phone from Lucknow on her way to Jamshedpur on Tuesday.

Bachendri Pal said she was awed by Arunima's passion and perseverance. "She is a spirited girl and I am sure if she continues in this manner, she will soon climb Mt Everest," said Pal who accompanied Arunima to the base camp on her expedition to Kangri peak.

"I have not come across any person, particularly a woman, who has scaled 21,000ft with artificial limbs," said Pal, the chief of Tata Steel Adventure Foundation , (TSAF).

Arunima was pushed out of the general compartment of a moving Padmawati Express for resisting a chain-snatching attempt by some hoodlums, while travelling from Lucknow to Delhi on April 12, 2011. She was hit by a passing train and was seriously injured. She was hospitalized with serious leg and pelvic injuries and in a bid to save her life, doctors had to amputate her left leg below the knee. Arunima joined the TSAF-run training camp in Uttarkashi early this year. .

"My ultimate aim is to scale Mt Everest and I will do it one day. I look forward to the guidance of 'madam' for my dream expedition," said Arunima who did her basic course in mountaineering from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi.