Sunitha Atinus was involved in an accident in 2011 that left her with a disfigured face. She had to undergo twenty-seven surgeries between 2011 and 2014. She says since then "I don’t have taste senses or tear glands. I cannot smell anything more than shots. I cannot chew food or close my mouth."
Her 'new transformation' has not changed anything in her marital life and her husband Jai Prakash, still loves her. They are blessed with two children.
Here is Sunitha Atinus' story, go through;
"I was the girl everyone was jealous of back then. I had boyfriends, guys would want my attention, and I knew I was pretty. Yet, life was not a bed of roses growing up. My sister, parents and I used to live in a 250-square-foot house and my dad was an alcoholic. Sometimes, we’d struggle to have three meals a day. I wanted a better life for myself. It was this passion that made me move to Bangalore after my Class 12. I joined a physiotherapy course and got a job.
On Saturday, August 27th 2011, I wanted to go home to Coimbatore and my friends agreed to drop me before heading to Tiruppur for shopping. We were near Krishnagiri when it happened. The window was down and I was sleeping in the back seat of Maruti 800 with my music plugged into my ears when I was woken up by a loud crash. Post that, I could feel my friend’s tears on my arm as he begged me not to die on him. Later, they told me that my hair got badly entangled, and my face was out of the window as the car toppled thrice after hitting the divider. They gave the ambulance guy whatever they had, even the gold chain from my bag, and got me to Bangalore.
I was wheeled into the OT directly close to midnight. There was nothing left of my face. It took over two weeks to just clean the skin up. During one of the cleaning process, they found my left eyeball in the cheek, the doctors carefully placed it back. I was fed with a tube and had another to help me breathe. They used to keep my hands tied to my bed so I didn’t feel my face. My lower jaw was broken in five places and my upper jaw was completely smashed. I had only one tooth. They drilled dentures into my mouth.
For the longest time, mirrors were removed from my room so I would not see my face. The first time I caught a glimpse of myself, on a reflection on the elevator doors, I was disappointed and then scared. There was a big, crooked face with a hole in the middle staring back at me. Between 2011 and 2014, I had twenty-seven surgeries. Today, I don’t have taste senses or tear glands. I cannot smell anything more than shots. I cannot chew food or close my mouth.
The journey taught me a lot about relationships. My sister stood by me like a pillar and there were friends who became family to ensure that I’ll be able to put a face to my voice. But there were also people who left, some who were broken, some who didn't have the guts to see me.
Post discharge, I moved to Tamil Nadu but soon came back home to Bangalore. It was then that a boy who had a crush on me since we were 17 met me and proposed. After January 2012, he has been with me for all my surgeries. To him, my accident, my surgeries, my tough childhood, nothing mattered. We got married in 2014. People even told me not to have babies because they’d have my face but we laugh these things off.
Initially, I was annoyed, frustrated, even angry. Why did I deserve this? Was this Karma? But I didn’t hurt anyone, all I had wanted was a better life. But I didn’t want Life to laugh at me. So I looked at it in the eye and said “I’ve survived. Now what?”
I am told that I am blessed and I am a Miracle. Miracles have a way of making you want to give more back. They are what make the world go ‘round.
Here are photos of Sunitha Atinus before she was involved in an accident.
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check out photos of Sunitha Atinus after she survived the horrific accident.
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Credits: Being You