P Dinesh, 16, has been mostly bedridden since July 22 last year when he met with an accident while pillion-riding on a villager’s bike.

MADURAI: A boy on a stretcher with a urine bag strapped to it was the cynosure of attention among hundreds of students who appeared for Class XI board examination on Wednesday at MC (Madura College) higher secondary school in Madurai. In fact, P Dinesh, 16, has been mostly bedridden since July 22 last year when he met with an accident while pillion-riding on a villager’s bike to catch up with a TNSTC bus.
They were mowed down by another bus during the ride from his village Nedunkulam near Viradhanoor. “He was crushed by one of the bus wheels and was critical,” said Dinesh’s mother, Thenmozhi. The boy spent the next four months in Govt Rajaji Hospital with severe injuries to his hip and a fracture to his leg. However, once out of hospital, Dinesh would not let his disabilities curb his ambition, and he insisted on studying.
The school decided to chip in to help realise the boy’s dream. “Our teachers used to visit him after school hours and take classes for him. They carried notes and materials,” said MC school headmaster B Balaji Ram. The school also approached chief education officer for a scribe and deputed a teacher to carry out the necessary documentation. The permission for a scribe was granted on Monday. “We were anxious because we know the boy toiled amidst all adversity,” said the HM.
On Wednesday morning he arrived in an autorickshaw, and shifted to a stretcher as he cannot sit on a wheelchair for long. “My mother always wanted me to study hard so that we could come up in life,” said Dinesh, adding that he wrote the Tamil exam well.
Dinesh’s father Pandi died when he was five months old, and it was his mother who raised him by working as a daily wager in a rice mill. He scored 420 out of 500 in Class X exams. “Impressed by his marks, we encouraged him to take Biomaths. He is a brilliant student, but the accident confined him to bed,” said the headmaster.
The teachers have pooled money to assist the boy since his mother, the only breadwinner, had to stay with him. “The family is in dire need of financial assistance. Any help from the state govt and donors would greatly help the studious boy and his mother,” said R Paramasivan, one of his teachers.