Virali Modi’s case is that of extreme inspiration and motivation. It is the story of a young 25 yr old American-Indian girl Virali Modi, who was declared clinically dead thrice in US. She is a known case of Transverse Myelitis. Her symptoms started with a simple cold, cough and high fever, and eventually led Virali Modi to lose her entire sensation, mobility, everything. Her sufferings began in 2006 and during the four years time frame, she went into a coma, was declared clinically dead thrice, and not just that, her doctors even suggested disconnecting her ventilatory support.
When Virali’s family brought her to Mumbai, highly acclaimed Indian Neurosurgeon & the Director at NeuroGen Brain and Spine Institute, Dr. Alok Sharma, finally diagnosed Virali as suffering from chronic Transverse Myelitis. She underwent her first cell therapy in 2010. After the cell therapy and intensive neurorehabilitation program, she regained some sensations, some mobility and strength in her muscles. Her upper limb function also improved tremendously. After experiencing consistent improvements she underwent Cell Therapy for the second time in 2013. This time she was able to start walking with calipers and support. She gained more strength, and become totally independent in terms of her activities of daily living. She was even able to travel alone on wheelchair.
Her constant improvements boosted her self confidence and she took the first step towards making a bright career. She became a content writer at a leading Social Awareness blog. Along with this she went through many photo shoots for various awareness campaigns.
The full of life wheelchair bound young girl, Virali, was crowned MISS WHEELCHAIR INDIA – 1st runner up for the year 2014. The desire to become fully mobile, dance, travel etc. made Virali to undergo Cell Therapy for the third time in 2014. “After the third cell therapy, I can comfortably walk with a walker, climb stairs, I feel more strength in my lower body; and my upper body is completely normal. I have gained bowel and bladder control, and I even go to the gym for 2-3 hours everyday’’ says Virali.
The improvements seen in Virali Modi today is that her upper limb overhead activity has improved. Virali’s upper limb gross motor activity has improved. She does good weight shifts. Her sitting posture has improved. Standing dynamic balance is better now. She does walking and stair climbing. Her bladder fullness sensation has improved. Her muscle strength has improved. Spinal cord injury independence measure score has improved from 36/100 to 56/100. Wearing splints was difficult earlier but now it’s better.
Virali is extremely passionate about writing, modeling and acting. Currently, Virali Modi is a disability rights activist who runs two successful campaigns – #MyTrainToo and #RampMyRestaurant. She’s a motivational speaker who has given two TEDx talks, is a writer on Quora with over 95,000 followers, a Youth Ambassador with the travel company Enable Travel which is powered by Cox And Kings and is India’s first premier accessibility holiday specialist which caters to the disabled and senior citizens, a model, and an actress. She was named as one of the most influential and inspirational women by BBC 100 Women this year, was featured in Femina magazine, and has two Women's Achievement Award by Delhi Commission For Women on Women’s Day 2017 and The Rising Star of India award by We Are The City. Recently, she was invited to Kerala to inaugurate the Divyangjan project by Mathrubhumi Newspaper at Ernakulam Station. Because of her campaign, #MyTrainToo, she’s currently contributed to making six stations in South India, wheelchair accessible with the help of portable ramps and small wheelchairs. She’s working very hard to promote the same accessibility in other states of India.
Dr Alok Sharma further said “At NeuroGen, the patients are not only given cell therapy but also put on an extensive neurorehabilitation program following cell therapy and are taught bed mobility techniques like rolling, getting up from lying down position as well as transfer techniques like transfer from bed to wheelchair and vice versa, wheelchair to car and so on.”
Based out of Seawoods, Navi Mumbai, NeuroGen Brain & Spine Institute, India’s first and only institute that offers not only just cell therapy but also rehabilitation for neurological disorders. Neurogen BSI has been set up to help patients suffering from incurable neurological disorders, get relief from their symptoms and physical disabilities by the use of cell therapy in a safe and effective way. NeuroGen BSI offers cell therapy and holistic rehabilitation for Neurological Disorders like spinal cord injury, autism, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, stroke, muscular dystrophy, head injury, cerebellar ataxia, dementia, motor neuron disease, multiple sclerosis and neuropsychiatric disorders. Till date, the organization has already successfully treated 8000 patients from over 65 countries.
Dr Alok Sharma further concluded by saying “For all those millions of patients who had been told earlier that nothing can be done medically for your illness, we can now say to you with reasonable confidence that with the availability of cell therapy and combined with neurorehabilitation, Achhe Din Aane Wale Hain (Better Days are on the way!)! “.
