Monika More, 17, was overjoyed when she scribbled her name on a piece of paper on Tuesday. The joy was understandable because it was the first time she wrote using her artificial limbs. The teenager lost both her hands after she slipped and came under a train at Ghatkopar station on January 11.
Monika has been the epitome of resilience and courage despite the tragedy, which drew the Bombay high court's attention to the apathy of the railways. Her mother Kavita could not hold back her tears when she saw her daughter write her name. "The happiness in seeing her writing again is priceless. I revisited her childhood days when she scribbled for the first time," she told dna.
Doctors are presently training More in Chembur to use the advance technology artificial limbs before she is fitted with them. She is the among the first people in the country to get myoelectric prosthetic limbs.
"Both the limbs are ready and she is being trained to handle their weight as they are quite heavy (about 1.2-1.5kg). A myoelectric-controlled prosthesis is a battery-operated artificial limb that can be controlled with impulses generated naturally by muscles," said Dr Pradeep Bhosale, head of orthopaedic department in the civic-run KEM Hospital. The prosthetic will have greater finger flexibility, improved hand functioning and will provide a better grip.
Dr Bhosale said it will take a month before she can start using the artificial limbs. "She is learning to write with the limbs now," he said.
An excited Monika is keen on returning home at the earliest with her new limbs. "My morning starts with physiotherapy sessions. I am being trained every day to handle the limbs. My parents and brothers accompany me for moral support. Hopefully, I will be able to draw mehendi designs soon," she said. The class XI student of SNDT College could not appear for her exams, but says she will start studying once she returns home.
Monika will also start using cosmetic limbs which are being customised for her from Germany. Dr Bhosale said the myoelectric limbs cannot be used while sleeping, etc, and hence, cosmetic limbs will have to be used.
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