Thiruvananthapuram: Till the age of 13, Panchami Satheesh dreamed of moving around freely. Now as the education officer at Coventry University in Britain, the 25-year-old Panchami has only this to say: ‘If you have a strong mind, life is not so fragile that it would just crumble down.’
Panchami, a native of Pappanamcode in Thiruvananthapuram, is the first Indian student to reach the position. With this, she has also become a member of the Board of Trustees of the university. Akhil Shah, another Keralite student at the university, has been selected as the welfare officer.
During her childhood, Panchami’s dream was to be able to move about without assistance. Along with the treatment, she set her mind to it, and she was able to nearly overcome the rare disease Osteogenesis imperfecta (glass bone disease).
“You never know when the bones will break. It could be while getting up from the bed or when coming in contact with any surface. Till now, there have been over 25 instances of fractures. Had to undergo several surgeries also,” Panchami said.
After plus two, she completed graduation in BA English from NSS College, Neeramankara, near her native place. But she was not able to attend class regularly. After she enrolled for the MSC International Business course at Coventry University, she made the flight journey all alone in a wheelchair.
Panchami is the daughter of Pappanamcode natives M Sindhumathi and M Sathishkumar, who is a businessman in Sharjah. Her sister Pavithra is a BBA student in London.