She was extremely thrilled and she shared the news on Twitter where she attached a photo of her ‘Certificate of Offer’ from the University of Oxford.
Thrilled to share that I’ll be pursuing Masters in Public Policy from the University of Oxford!
— Pratishtha Deveshwar (@iiampratishtha) June 15, 2020
From the ICU where I fought for my life,to being the first wheelchair-user from India to get into Oxford-it has been a rollercoaster ride! I want to thank you all for your support!❤ pic.twitter.com/1K4t1D1jYM
Congratulations to @iiampratishtha, #DelhiUniversity student of #LSR to be the first wheelchair bound student to study at @UniofOxford https://t.co/bmPl34Ojxh
— Delhi University News (@AllDUNews) June 20, 2020
Mind you, Deveshwar has had her own set of ups and downs in life.
She met with an accident while traveling from Hoshiarpur to Chandigarh when she was just 13 years old. In the accident, she broke her spinal cord and had become paralysed from the chest down. She fought for her life in the ICU for almost 4 months.
But, she was a fighter. She never let this incident come in her way and that’s when she decided that she would overcome every obstacle through proper education. And, that’s exactly what she did.
Finally, her parents agreed and they let her go to Lady Shri Ram College. Even her relatives advised her parents against sending her to Delhi but, she managed just fine in the big city.
Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh also congratulated her and wished her luck.
The indomitable will & spirit of Pratishtha Deveshwar of Punjab are truly inspiring. She is first girl wheelchair user from India to be joining Oxford for a Master’s programme. I wish her good luck & am sure she will come back to serve the country. God bless, Beta! pic.twitter.com/65vfAxivDV
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) July 16, 2020
Netizens also congratulated Pratishtha for her achievement.
Congratulations Pratishtha and welcome to England. You are an inspiration to everyone. England is a great country for equality of opportunity. I hope you will continue to play a positive role to improve it even further while studying at Oxford. I wish you well for your future.
— Amarjit Singh Grewal (@asg295) July 17, 2020
Delighted to learn about great achievement – congratulations and all the very best to Pratishtha Deveshwar @iiampratishtha https://t.co/gwnAsvd0QO
— Lt Gen Gyan Bhushan (@bhushan_gyan) July 21, 2020
Many many congratulations Pratishtha!
— Saumya Sharma (@saumyasharma711) June 15, 2020
Heartiest Congratulations Pratishtha on getting through the @BlavatnikSchool@UniofOxford !
— ILMA AFROZ (@ilmaafroz) June 15, 2020
Congratulations!
— Anant Bhan (@AnantBhan) June 15, 2020
Congratulations … 🤗🤗❤❤👍👍👍👍👍👍 ..wish you more and more
— Siddharth Jain🇮🇳 (@dhadhkan13) June 15, 2020
Wow!!! This is so cool, congratulations!!😄
— Devina Buckshee (@DevinaB21) June 15, 2020
Her story is truly inspiring. Moral of the story: Never lose hope and never give up.