ON A LIMB, AND A PRAYER

Syam Kumar S.S. had his right leg amputated at age eight. At 23, he has had 16 surgeries already. But today, the world knows him as the youngest person to skydive solo with a prosthetic leg

- Nirmal Jovial

Following his 16th surgery-a renal transplant-then 21-year-old Syam Kumar S.S., an amputee since age 8, confronted a fatal thought. "I told myself, 'I have already suffered a lot in life. It is enough," "he recalls. And then he had another thought-"What if I jump from a height?"

Jump he did, not to his death but to reach greater heights. Kumar, now 23, has two records to his name in the International Book of Records. A resident of Thiruvananthapuram's Kulathummal village, he is the youngest person in the world to skydive solo from an altitude of 13,000ft with a prosthetic leg and the youngest paragliding pilot with a prosthetic leg.

THE WEEK first met Kumar at KIMSHEALTH Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, where he had undergone a complicated kidney transplant two years ago. He had come in for a routine checkup wearing a fitted, full-sleeve T-shirt and convertible track pants that can be detached knee down, with the part of the pant below his amputated right leg detached. He wasn't wearing his prosthetic leg, prompting the hospital staff to offer him a wheelchair. "It is totally fine. I can walk. I can run kilometres on my lone leg,"he told the staff, before turning to this reporter with a wink. The puzzled staff, however, insisted on the wheelchair and Kumar accepted it with a smile.

I was born with one leg glued to my buttocks. | had plenty of other issues at birth, including a malformed renal system, aspinaltumour, and congenital scoliosis. |had my first surgeryjust 19 days after birth.

Syam Kumar S.S.