Sixteen-year-old Amit Malav showed the world that where there’s will, there’s a way. An all India 87 rank in the joint entrance exam for IITs and a 91% in Class 12 exams are remarkable achievements.
In Amit’s case though, these achievements gain profound significance as he prepared for the exams when the doctors advised him against it.
Suffering from acute ankylosing spondylitis which doesn’t even allow him to sit at a place for more than a few minutes, Amit proved his detractors wrong by securing a high rank in the JEE.
The inspirational teenager is a resident of Takerwara village in Kota district and studied in a government Hindi-medium school till Class 10.
Amit was diagnosed with the disorder two year ago.
Doctors advised him complete bed rest and warned him against continuing further studies.
Firm on his decision to not miss the exams, he went on with his preparations. The disorder causes degeneration of bones. Amit cannot walk without a walker. The pain aggravated in September 2012 and he was hospitalized.
“Since September, I stopped going to school and the coaching centre. My father would hold the books in front of me for 14 to 16 hours a day. I would just lie on the bed. Solving Maths equations, chemical and physics numericals became increasingly difficult as I could not even hold a pencil and rubber,” the young achiever said. His father is a farmer and can barely meet daily expenses. Arranging funds to support Amit’s education was difficult. A few Samaritans in Kota came forward to bear the medical expenses of Amit.
As the exam dates came nearer, Amit was tense if his health would permit him to sit through the three-hour exam.
He wrote to the authorities and asked for some special arrangement but the request was turned down. “During exams, I was under intense medication to overcome pain so that I could sit on the chair, use my hands to write and operate computer without pain,” Amit said and added that under the influence of steroids he found it difficult to keep his eyes open while giving the exam.
The hard work paid-off. He scored a 91% in Classs 12 RBSE and a score of 325 in JEE-Mains which kept in contention for an under 100 ranking.
His coaching institute offered him home tuitions. Amit’s next goal is to get a seat in the popular computer science branch at IIT-Bombay.
Doctors treating him said the disorder can not be cured by medicines but can reduce the pain.
src: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Rare-disorder-fails-to-deter-teen-to-secure-top-rank-in-IIT-exam/articleshow/20787349.cms