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Nearly 6 years after landmark double hand transplant, her new innings at IIM-C

Nearly seven years after an accident in 2016 resulted in the loss of her hands below the elbows, a new chapter in Shreya's life started on June 12

Shreya Siddanagowder, then just 18, was three months into her engineering course at Manipal Institute of Technology when she met with the devastating accident in 2016. (Express photo by Pavan Khengre)

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She parts her hair in the middle to style it into a ponytail. To no avail though. Much as she tries, Pune-based Shreya Siddanagowder — Asia’s first bilateral above-elbow hand transplant recipient — is unable to stretch and twist the scrunchie to fasten her hair. Not one to give up, she looked for an alternative and switched to a hair clip and then her orange knotted headband. Just as Shreya refused to accept defeat after a devastating accident in 2016 resulted in the loss of her hands below the elbows.

After nearly seven years, a new chapter in Shreya’s life started on June 12. Switching to economics from engineering after her accident paid rich dividends — she cleared the extremely tough exam and interview rounds to secure a berth at IIM-Calcutta (IIM-C).

Shreya, who calls herself a fiercely independent woman, has dealt with her three-year-long recovery with admirable resilience. Little did the engineering student, then just 18, know that three months after joining Manipal Institute of Technology she would meet with a life-changing accident that would lead to severed hands and crush injuries.

Shreya Siddanagowder, 25, with her mother Suma at their Pune residence. (Express photo by Pavan Khengre)

“On September 28, 2016, I was returning to Manipal from Pune by bus. The bus overturned and my forearms got caught between the shattered window and the road. The bus rolled for some 100 metres,” Shreya recalled.

The accident was followed by stints in hospital. Almost a year later, on August 9, 2017, Shreya became the first person in Asia to receive a bilateral above-elbow hand transplant in a 14-hour surgery at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in Kochi. The hands she received belonged to Sachin, a young man from Kerala who was declared brain dead after a motorbike accident. Besides limbs, his family also donated his organs.

Having secured over 90 per cent in class 10 at St Ursula High School and class 12 at City Pride Junior College in Pune, Shreya was keen on pursuing an engineering degree. After the three-year academic break due to the bilateral transplant, she decided to obtain a BA degree in economics from Fergusson College in Pune. She joined Fergusson College in 2019.

“The first year in college was difficult. There were new challenges and I had to re-learn everything,” Shreya recalled, adding that she refused to opt for a scribe for exams.

She said the initial months getting acclimatized to a college environment meant doing simple things like picking up her own plate from the canteen. “Don’t limit yourself,” Shreya would write in her notes as a reminder not to give up the fight. She lost count of the number of times she practiced opening an umbrella, writing with pens of varying thickness and tying her shoelace. She met new friends, wrote her exams herself and even gave TED talks organised by the College of Engineering Pune during the pandemic.

A Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 9.74 and working from home as an investment analyst for a Bengaluru start-up firmed up her resolve to pursue a management degree. She registered for online coaching classes, cleared the Common Admission Test (CAT) in November last year and prepared for multiple interviews. Shreya’s mother Suma said, “Her impressive academic record, apart from her work experience and CAT score, resulted in her admission to IIM-C.”

From wearing splints and slings to support the weight of her new hands to being put on immunosuppressants to prevent her body from rejecting the transplanted limbs, Shreya also had to deal with multiple infections, including liver fungal infection and post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder. “But she overcame each and every hardship,” said her proud mother

As for Shreya, despite her nervousness, there was a new spring in her step as she dressed up to join the students’ induction programme at IIM-C on June 12 in Kolkata. “I met my new classmates and I am settling in now. My days are packed since classes start at 10.30 am,” she said.