Who Is Really A Handicap?

Raghuram was the CEO of an IT company at the age of 40. He achieved fame, money and success in his early age. He was married to a beautiful lady and had two children. He was in a place where everyone was thriving to reach. He was a role model to many. He achieved all the things whatever he had dreamed.

One day, he got an invite from the chairperson to travel to an island along with all the elites of the company. He was happy to take a break. The plane took off, and due to severe weather condition, it created a lot of turbulence. Everybody was terrified, and the pilot announced to put the seat belts on and prepare for an impact. Soon it went pitch-black inside, and seconds later, they made an impact.

He tumbled around hitting his head and limbs against the ceiling and lockers. He realised his seatbelts were not locked properly. He landed and slipped under a seat, legs first, and got stuck. This kept him in place for the second bigger impact, which caused the plane to break up. It had crashed on a dense forest.

He woke up after few hours and looked around and saw some of his colleagues were dead with their ribs crushed into their lungs by the seat belt. He saw the plane broken from middle and he was near the exit. He could hear someone moaning from a near distance and wanted to check but, was unable to move.

He asked, ‘Hello! Is anyone alive apart from me?’

He heard a voice from behind, ‘Oh! I am so glad to hear your voice. I was screaming for help from a long time. Who is this?’

‘Hi, I am Raghuram, the CEO.’

‘Oh! Raghu. This is Sachin, one of the board member. Are you fine? Can you help me please?’

‘Sorry, Sachin. I am stuck. I can’t move. How about you?’

‘I can’t feel my body. Hope somebody would rescue us soon.’

They consoled each other and waited patiently for help. Both started sharing each other's stories and achievement in life, to feel happy at least knowing what they had achieved before they die. Sachin was around 60 years old and felt satisfied with life experiences and mentally started preparing to die. He said, ‘I think, I have lived my life very dignified and lavishly. I don't want to spend rest of my life in a wheelchair or on the bed. I choose to die now. I can't even imagine living a handicapped life after they rescue me. I have justified my living. I did whatever I had to. I earned education, money, fame and success. I want to die with the satisfaction of living a rich and elegant life without any regrets. I lived my 60 years happily, and now, I don't want to live the rest of my life with regret.’

Raghuram thought for a moment and didn’t comment on his views but tried to divert his topic. Sachin’s negative statements were blocking Raghuram’s thoughts. Sachin went on and on about dying soon. He didn’t try to even move from where he was stuck. Soon he became week and stopped talking. Raghuram tried to speak to him but couldn't get any response. He couldn't even see if he was dead or alive. Now, there was a complete silence inside the plane, and he felt all alone surrounded by the dead bodies.

He tried to move. But shifting even an inch was agony. He decided to focus on what he could do, rather than what he couldn't. He concentrated on his survival. His clothes were torn apart and had a severe injury on his knees and legs. He understood there would be a lot of fractures inside. But still, he focused on getting out. His goal was to reach out and look for some help. So, he painfully pulled himself around a small section of the wreckage, dragging his body by his elbows and came out of the plane and got settled outside near a tree. He looked around and found only trees. He yelled hard for help, but there were no human alive to hear him.

He was hungry and thirsty. But thinking of dragging himself again inside left the idea of drinking water. He waited patiently for the rest of the day hoping someone would come to his rescue. But neither he saw any helicopter or heard any people yelling his name. Soon he lost his hopes on someone coming to rescue him.

He thought, ‘I guess, this is it. My life has come to an end. Am I happy to leave this world? I have achieved everything one can dream about. I am highly qualified, became a CEO in my early 40s, I am the role model for many youngsters. But, why am I still feeling incomplete? Is there anything that I couldn't do?’.

Sachin’s words rambled him, and he asked himself, ‘What if I am rescued and discovered that I won’t be able to walk again? Will, I be able to live as a handicap all my life?’ He went silent for some time and then thought again, ‘What have I really, achieved? I have education, money, fame, success but now I can't use anything to get me out of this situation. I am a CEO, everything was produced before me with a single snap, but now, even if I yell my core out, no one is here to hear me. Then who am I now? What is my identity? Who will I be once they rescue me? A CEO? Or a handicap?’

He dwelled in his thoughts and lost track of time. It was pitch dark. He could hear the insects sounds and eerie silence at the same time. He was terrified thinking about the wild animals around or any other kind of danger waiting to happen. He couldn’t sleep all night and felt the night was way too long. He struggled all night to lie on one position. There was heavy rain, and he struggled to lie on the ground with his bare body. He was controlling his mind not to make any sounds and attract any creatures around. He wished to die before any animal came and dragged him into their den. He tried focusing his mind on planning to get him out of this situation. He didn't want to die without seeing his family. He imagined his family in front of him and motivated himself to breathe and hope to get rescued very soon.

By morning he pulled himself mentally and decided to do something instead of waiting for his death to take him away. He decided to try and find help. First, his primary goal was to drink water to stay hydrated. He looked around for something which could help him to protect his wounded leg. He saw a deep cut in his right thigh, and a knee opened showing his inside flesh. He saw a lot of items scattered all over the place. He dragged himself slowly and tried to accumulate few clothes and a small hard flat piece and tied around his right leg for better support. His left leg was hurt too, but he could manage to move. Then he slowly dragged his body by his elbows to find water and found the food supply cabin box lying in few feet away. He prepared himself and constantly told that he could do this and eventually his positive attitude towards his struggle helped him to reach the cabin box but, the supplies were burnt.

He didn't know what else to do. As it rained last night, he noticed the rainwater was accumulated in some of the leaves. He immediately drank some and looked for a container where he could store it. Soon he found one of the broken bottles near the cabin box. He took it and filled with the rainwater stored on the leaves and continued to do it whenever it rained.

He knew that this was his last survival kit and need to use it wisely. So, he drank little by little to keep him alive. His struggle to survive paid him off. After three days of active search, the rescue team found him alive. The rescue team confirmed that he was the only survivor and prepared to take him back.

On the way back, the rescue team were discussing among themselves about his condition, and then one of the rescuers said, ‘He looks pretty bad. Maybe they might have to amputee his right leg. It has got infected badly.’

The other member said, ‘I guess, his royal living will end in his wheelchair now.'

Raghuram overheard their conversation and said, ‘I am not afraid to live my life in a wheelchair. I know, how capable I am. I am not identified by my body but by my skills and talents. The only disability in life is a bad attitude towards life. I am proud that I was able to guide myself to survive rather crib for what happened and die forcefully thinking about my infected body part.’

Everybody clapped for his courage and efforts he took to survive. He was given the treatment as soon as he was reached the hospital.