IIT-JEE 2013: An eye lost, 18 year old cancer survivor makes it to IIT

IIT-JEE 2013: An eye lost, 18 year old cancer survivor makes it to IIT:

His resolve is written large on his face. Pankaj Yadav, 18, has made it to the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU)-Varanasi, overcoming his handicap of losing an eye to cancer 13 years ago.

In doing so, this cancer survivor has set an example for hundreds of others like him who have fought off the dreaded disease. The National Society for Childhood Cancer and Cankids. Kidscan have committed to supporting his family to meet his higher education costs of Rs.400,000 over four years and are seeking donors to help him.

"When I lost an eye at the age of five, no one imagined that I would go far in academics," said Yadav, a resident of Haryana whose father is a constable in the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force.

"Even when I started my preparations for the IIT entrance exam, not many of my peers believed that I would crack it," said the survivor of retinoblastoma eye cancer, who sports a plastic left eye.

Sushila Devi, Pankaj's mother, is all praise for her son's courage. "It is a miracle. After his fight against cancer, our middle class family had little hope of his making it big. But Pankaj made it through IIT and MBBS entrance."

"Now, after his IIT course he should serve others like him who have overcome adversity," she said.

Pankaj's younger sister, Mamata, 14, is in Class 10. "I will try to do something like him," she said.

The IIT-entrant was among the 23 cancer patients and survivors who were recently honoured by Cankids in New Delhi with scholarships under the 6th Annual National Childhood Cancer Scholarship Programme 2013.

Source: IANS