Hyderabad: Never say die. That no doubt would define Madhu Kumar. Despite both hands being amputated till the shoulders, one leg up to the knee and the other till the ankle after an electrical accident in 2019, he came out with flying colours in the recent SSC examination, scoring 86%.The 14-year-old from Kamkole village in Munpalle mandal in Sangareddy district has now set his sights on becoming an IAS officer.“I want to serve the people. That is the reason why I would like to prepare for Civils,” Madhu told TOI on Monday.Madhu was in class 5 when his world turned upside down. He was playing with his friends on the roof when he suffered a major electric shock.”A long piece of iron (to which banners are fixed) touched an electric wire. He suffered an electric shock and it also resulted in a gaping hole in the roof,” his father G Tuljaram (42) told TOI.Tuljaram recalled that everyone took it for granted that Madhu was dead, but they rushed him to Osmania General Hospital in the city.”We were told that he had little chance of survival. When we took him back, he began talking. We then took him to Gandhi Hospital, where he was admitted for three months. Doctors said his limbs had to be amputated but did not give a guarantee that he could live. We nevertheless went ahead, asking that theamputationbe done to his affected limbs,” Tuljaram said.From there it was one step at a time to bring some degree of normalcy back into Madhu’s life, his father said.Madhu slowly learned to write by holding the pen in his mouth, while his elder brother, who has completed his B Tech, and sister, a nursing student, helped him with his homework. All his daily needs at home were taken care of by the family.”His friends and we would take him to school every day on a bike,” Tuljaram recalled.Explaining how he goes about his work, Madhu said: “It is not easy.I have to use one of my truncated feet or use my tongue to turn the pages.”He uses the mobile with ease, using his tongue to scroll. During the exam, he used a scribe to write the papers.Even when Covid struck and schools went online soon after his accident in 2019, Madhu said he could manage with classes on mobile without much difficulty.The gritty boy was felicitated by collector Kranthi Valluru recently and presented with a laptop during a function.Assuring her support to facilitate his learning, she said, “Madhu has shown that he has willpower.”His father, who has a tyre puncture shop, has big dreams for his son. His school, ZPHS Kamkole, was close to his house, but the nearest college will be five km away.The immediate decision, however, is which group to pursue in his Intermediate studies.”I will consult my teachers, take their advice and decide,” he said, adding that his favourite subject is English and he loves to read.