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<p><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">He was going home after school when a car knocked him down.</span></p><p>Mr Basil Mirza was only 10 years old and that incident changed his life.</p><p>The 20-year-old said: "The last thing I remembered was crossing the road. I didn't see the car coming nor feel the impact."</p><p>He was in a coma for a week. When he regained consciousness, he found that his left hand had become paralysed.</p><p>After a month in hospital, he was discharged and it marked the start of a long and arduous climb to success - he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (in Liberal Studies with concentration in Mass Communications) last Saturday.</p><p>Recalling those dark days, Mr Basil said: "I was shocked. How could it happen to me?"</p><p>School became a problem - he missed lessons because of the accident, putting his peers ahead of him in their studies.</p><p>He said: "I thought I couldn't catch up with them. I didn't want to go to school but my mum persuaded me to."</p><p>Other than academic challenges, simple tasks such as buttoning shirts and tying shoelaces also became difficult. He sank into depression for a year.</p><p>Mr Basil said: "I thought I couldn't handle daily life with this paralysed hand. I even thought of suicide."</p><p><strong>INSPIRATION</strong></p><p>His turning point came when he read an article about Mr Nick Vujicic - an Australian motivational speaker born without limbs - in a magazine in 2006.</p><p>While he had support from his parents and his two sisters, 25-year-old Rachel and 17-year-old Balqis, Mr Vujicic was an inspiration to Mr Basil.</p><p>He said: "I only have a paralysed hand while he doesn't even have any."</p><p>Mr Basil was in the Express stream at Admiralty Secondary School.</p><p>His mother, Mdm Noor Sihah, said his participation in the school's drama club also helped him gain confidence.</p><p>She said: "There were not many boys in the drama club, so he always got the lead roles. It helped him gain confidence during his upper secondary school years."</p><p>Mr Basil got a diploma in Media and Mass Communications from MDIS in 2011. He said: "I was exempted from national service because of my hand, so I decided to continue with my studies."</p><p>He completed his advanced diploma in Media and Mass Communications a year later before pursuing the Bachelor of Arts awarded by Oklahoma City University. Mr Basil is now pursuing his Masters in Business and Management.</p><p>He said: "I plan to start my career early and go travelling. I want to visit Rome and Greece because of my interest in Roman and Greek mythology.</p><p>"My dream career is to be a travel journalist."</p><p>[email protected]</p><p><a href="http://www.tnp.sg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.asiaone.com/html/images/logos/tnp_logo2014.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><i>This article was first published on Oct 23, 2014. <br />Get <a href="http://www.tnp.sg" target="_blank">The New Paper</a> for more stories.</i></p><!-- End For Web Only -->
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<p><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">He was going home after school when a car knocked him down.</span></p><p>Mr Basil Mirza was only 10 years old and that incident changed his life.</p><p>The 20-year-old said: "The last thing I remembered was crossing the road. I didn't see the car coming nor feel the impact."</p><p>He was in a coma for a week. When he regained consciousness, he found that his left hand had become paralysed.</p><p>After a month in hospital, he was discharged and it marked the start of a long and arduous climb to success - he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (in Liberal Studies with concentration in Mass Communications) last Saturday.</p><p>Recalling those dark days, Mr Basil said: "I was shocked. How could it happen to me?"</p><p>School became a problem - he missed lessons because of the accident, putting his peers ahead of him in their studies.</p><p>He said: "I thought I couldn't catch up with them. I didn't want to go to school but my mum persuaded me to."</p><p>Other than academic challenges, simple tasks such as buttoning shirts and tying shoelaces also became difficult. He sank into depression for a year.</p><p>Mr Basil said: "I thought I couldn't handle daily life with this paralysed hand. I even thought of suicide."</p><p><strong>INSPIRATION</strong></p><p>His turning point came when he read an article about Mr Nick Vujicic - an Australian motivational speaker born without limbs - in a magazine in 2006.</p><p>While he had support from his parents and his two sisters, 25-year-old Rachel and 17-year-old Balqis, Mr Vujicic was an inspiration to Mr Basil.</p><p>He said: "I only have a paralysed hand while he doesn't even have any."</p><p>Mr Basil was in the Express stream at Admiralty Secondary School.</p><p>His mother, Mdm Noor Sihah, said his participation in the school's drama club also helped him gain confidence.</p><p>She said: "There were not many boys in the drama club, so he always got the lead roles. It helped him gain confidence during his upper secondary school years."</p><p>Mr Basil got a diploma in Media and Mass Communications from MDIS in 2011. He said: "I was exempted from national service because of my hand, so I decided to continue with my studies."</p><p>He completed his advanced diploma in Media and Mass Communications a year later before pursuing the Bachelor of Arts awarded by Oklahoma City University. Mr Basil is now pursuing his Masters in Business and Management.</p><p>He said: "I plan to start my career early and go travelling. I want to visit Rome and Greece because of my interest in Roman and Greek mythology.</p><p>"My dream career is to be a travel journalist."</p><p>[email protected]</p><p><a href="http://www.tnp.sg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.asiaone.com/html/images/logos/tnp_logo2014.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><i>This article was first published on Oct 23, 2014. <br />Get <a href="http://www.tnp.sg" target="_blank">The New Paper</a> for more stories.</i></p><!-- End For Web Only -->
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