Her Stem Space

Mary Puthisseril Verghese was born in the village of Cherai, located in Kochi (formerly Cochin), in the state of Kerala, India. Her family was wealthy, as her father owned a coconut grove and was respected by the village as a religious and community leader. As a child, Verghese excelled in mathematics, and went on to graduate at Union High School in Cherai with the highest score in her class. She initially wished to be an engineer, and attended Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam—one of the few universities that accepted female students—to study mathematics, chemistry, and physics until she chose to begin studying to become a doctor. Inspired by the work of Ida S. Scudder, an American medical missionary, Mary moved to the Christian Medical College in Vellore, an institution founded by Scudder herself, where she joined the department of gynecology. In Take My Hands: The Remarkable True Story of Dr. Mary Verghese, Dorothy Clarke Wilson writes that Verghese felt invigorated in being able to pursue her medical dreams while strengthening her faith and connection with God.

However, an act of misfortune soon affected Verghese. After graduating from the Christian Medical College, Verghese had started working as a gynecologist, and on January 30, 1954, she and her colleagues drove outside of the city for a picnic. On the way, a road crash occurred and the car Verghese was in rolled off the side of the road and turned over, causing twelve injuries—with Verghese’s as the worst. She suffered severe damage to a spinal cord that resulted in paraplegia, a form of paralysis affecting the lower body. Verghese would never walk again, and would spend the rest of her life as a paraplegic. It was in this moment of weakness that she was visited by Dr. Paul Brand, who had once been her teacher at the Christian Medical College and specialized in treating patients with leprosy utilizing tendon transfer techniques. He encouraged her to continue her medical career, and after she endured a difficult recovery, Verghese began learning to operate on the hands of patients from her wheelchair under the tutelage of Dr. Brand. At first, Verghese faced difficulty in sitting upright in her wheelchair for long periods of time, but she soon discovered that she had a gift in performing extremely delicate hand surgeries. She spent a course of rehabilitation in Australia, and obtained a fellowship at the Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in New York under Dr. Howard A. Rusk, considered the founder of rehabilitation medicine. With her new knowledge and experiences, Verghese returned to India, where, inspired by the technologies and facilities she had seen in the United States and Australia, she founded the first physical rehabilitation institute in the country in 1966, continuing to work in the Christian Medical College in Vellore.

Mary Verghese’s contributions to the field of medicine earned her the Padma Shri award, presented to her by former President of India Shri. V.V. Giri, as well as the World Vision award; in addition, The Mary Verghese Trust, the Dr. Mary Verghese Award for Excellence in Empowering Ability, and The Mary Verghese Institute of Rehabilitation were created in her honor. However, through it all, Verghese remained humble about her achievements, continuing her Christian witness until the day she passed on December 17, 1986, at the age of 61. The Christian Medical College’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, founded by Verghese, continues to celebrate her legacy by hosting free event check-ups and annual celebrations to empower patients. In a world that overlooks the talents of those affected by disabilities and an age that often rejects the efforts of girls and women, Verghese, sometimes known today as “the wheelchair surgeon”, inspires kindness, faith, and selflessness. Her actions reflect both the brilliance of her mind and the purity of her soul, and are a testament to the tenacity and bravery of women in the face of adversity.

My name is Sophia Duong, and I am an upcoming sophomore at Frontier STEM Academy! I love being a woman in STEM because I can express my passion for psychology and behavioral science!