TN girl fights off dark nights, poverty and a cyclone to live her doctor dream

TN girl fights off dark nights, poverty and a cyclone to live her doctor dream

Vincent.Arockiaraj@timesgroup.com

Trichy:20.11.2020

When G Sahana collected her MBBS admission card from KAPV Government Medical College in Trichy on Thursday evening, it was the culmination of an inspiring fightback against poverty and nature’s fury. The 18-year-old girl from Pookollai village in Thanjavur district, which was devastated by cyclone Gaja in 2018, bagged a seat in the government medical college under the 7.5% quota for government school students. My dream wouldn’t have come true without the help of actor Sivakarthikeyan who sponsored my NEET coaching, the girl said.

Sahana had scored 87.3% marks in her Class XII examination in 2019, overcoming a life of darkness in a thatched house bereft of electricity. The havoc wreaked by Gaja came as a double blow in November 2018.

TOI had reported in April last year how her good score came amid challenging circumstances. Her family lived in a thatched hut on rent in a coconut grove which was looked after by her father. Since it had no electricity, she struggled to prepare for Class XII by studying when there was sunlight. She used to finish her homework and studies in her school itself. “We lost the thatched hut too during the cyclone. The entire family resided under the open sky in the grove. Despite the odds, I did not give up on my dream and started preparing for NEET with the help of my school teachers, as my parents didn’t have the resource to send me to a coaching class,” Sahana recalled.

G Sahana with father K Ganesan

Actor to fund girl’s med education as well

It was at this juncture that Sivakarthikeyan contacted her and promised help to pursue her dream. “As Sivakarthikeyan sir promised me, his managers arrived at Pookollai and took me to Chennai. They helped me get admission in a private NEET coaching centre there and he bore the entire expense. Without him I could not have attained my dream. Some good-hearted people also offered money,” Sahana told TOI. She secured 273 marks in NEET but was not sure if she would get a seat until the state government came out with an ordinance on 7.5% quota and the governor okayed it. Her father K Ganesan is also a part-time tailor while mother G Chitra is an agriculture worker. She also has an elder sister.

Sahana said the actor has also come forward to bear the entire expenses of her medical education. Sahana arrived from Chennai on Wednesday evening after completing the counselling to collect her admission card from KAPV Government Medical College in Trichy.

As Sivakarthikeyan sir promised me, his managers arrived at Pookollai and took me to Chennai. They helped me get admission in a private NEET coaching centre there and he bore the entire expense. Without him I could not have attained my dream

G SAHANA | Medical aspirant who bagged seat in KAPV Government Medical College in Trichy