Krishna (sitting, left) with trainees who completed their training at the academy.
MELAKA: Passion, dedication and hard work paid off for a 54-year-old teacher who can walk again after months of being bedridden and almost giving up hope of recovery.
B. Krishna Kumar said he had never imagined he would walk again after surviving a fall down a staircase in December 2021.
On Sunday (April 2), Krishna said the devastating fall occurred while he was providing free tuition at an orphanage and it left him with serious spinal injuries.
"The fall left me in limbo and immobile for nine months.
"At times, I felt it was the end as I could not even get out of bed for four months and then was wheelchair-bound for five months," he said.
However, Krishna said his perseverance and passion to continue teaching made him learn to walk again with a walking frame.
He said the physical pain had been almost unbearable at first but has since improved.
"There will be more changes in my future, but no matter what my condition, I'm sure that I will continue teaching until my last breath," he added.
He was speaking to 50 trainees who had just graduated from a pastry training programme sponsored by the Malaysian Indian Community Transformation Unit (Mitra) at Accelskill Academy at Jalan Hang Tuah here.
The trainees, who included housewives from all over the country, received their certificates from Mitra's social welfare director Ivin Mercy Jayabalan.
Accelskill CEO K. Annadurai was also present to celebrate the return of Krishna to the college after more than a year.
Krishna, who is semi-paralysed due to polio since childhood, started his career as a tuition teacher in 1989 and is now a general manager and trainer under the Social Development Foundation (YPS), which manages courses jointly with the Prime Minister’s Department.
Since 2011, YPS has provided some 6,000 young women from lower income groups with business and language courses as well as equipping them with new skills to help them earn a supplementary household income.
Krishna, who is from Taman Sikamat, Seremban started by giving free Bahasa Melayu and History tuition classes for secondary students from poor family backgrounds before moving to Kuala Lumpur to teach the same
subject in a private institution.
In 2011, he was instrumental in setting up YPS and he is also one of the trainers at Accelskill here.
