ALL HANDS IN

After losing her hands in a tragic accident in 2014, Monika More had a successful double hand transplant just in time for her birthday last month

- Manvi Pant

Monika More’s world col-lapsed when, on January 11, 2014, she lost her arms in a horrific accident. Then a commerce student at SNDT College in Mumbai, Monika was heading home when she fell into an unfenced sixfoot gap near a signal pole at Ghatkopar railway station. Both her arms were crushed under a running train. “It took me a while to get hold of reality. I wailed in pain until a few people rescued me and took me to the hospital,” she narrates. Almost seven years later, the Mumbai girl has now become the recipient of a new set of hands, transplanted in an astounding surgery from the body of a 34-year-old Chennai software professional.

Daughter of a travel-agent father and homemaker mother, Monika had a humble but happy upbringing. She is the elder of two siblings, both of whom had a good education. But Monika’s accident shattered her family and crushed her dreams. “Time came to a standstill. I felt as if I’d never get my hands back. But I did not give up hope,” she says.