Sending a strong message of determination and resilience, a NEET aspirant from West Bengal, who is recovering from a major road accident, appeared for the re-examination on Sunday.
The student appeared for the retest at the examination centre at Binodini Girls High School in Bengal's Dhakuria.
Shrishti Dubey, who met with a major road accident on June 14 --just days before the retest-- and sustained serious injuries to her ribs and lungs, appeared for the NEET-UG retest in a separate room allotted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) at the examination centre.
According to her family, Dubey had broken nine ribs and had sustained an injury to her lungs. She underwent a major vascular surgery and was under artificial ventilation.
She was later extubated and is now recovering. However, even when hospitalised and struggling, Dubey was determined to appear for the NEET exam.
Heeding to his daughter's unwavering spirit, Dubey's father requested the NTA to allow her to sit for the examination and allot a separate space for her at the centre.
He also informed the agency that a private hospital, the ILS Hospital, would provide the necessary medical support, including a doctor, paramedics and other arrangements required for Dubey to attend the exam.
The NTA then allotted Dubey a separate room at the exam centre with medical support and a standby ambulance.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan spoke to Dubey's parents over the phone later in the day. They expressed gratitude for allowing her to appear for the examination and providing the necessary arrangments.
The NEET-UG re-exam was held at over 5400 centres across the country and overseas on Sunday amid tight security arrangements and intensified scrutiny.
The examination was conducted across 5,440 centres in 551 cities in India and 14 centres abroad by the NTA after the cancellation of the earlier May 3 exam amid an ongoing probe into the question paper leak.
Over 22 lakh students were to appear in the retest.
(With inputs from Express News Service)