MAPUSA: Joshua Betsalel D’Cruz from Moira has just crossed an academic milestone – he’s finished school, passing Class X with an excellent score of 82.8 per cent and he did it single-handedly. Joshua was born without both legs and with only one fully developed arm. However, this cheerful teenager has never let his disability hold him back from pursuing his interests. Apart from excelling in school subjects – particularly math and computer science – Joshua plays six musical instruments, is a gifted actor and orator, and enjoys playing football with his friends.
“I live a very full life, there’s not much I miss out on,” says Joshua. “I believe my mind is enough to make me whole as a human,” he quips. “And I make a lot of friends because I was born this way; everywhere I go, people talk to me – it’s a conversation starter,” he chuckles, adding that he enjoys being a performer and has always felt at home on stage.
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“Joshua’s speeches were wildly popular during cultural days and national day functions. He has the talent to captivate his audience,” says Sr Wendy Sequeira, the Headmistress of Holy Cross High School, Bastora, where Joshua has been a student since Class I.
“We hardly consider him a special-needs child. He’s a high achiever, gifted with intelligence and creativity, and his sunny disposition is contagious, making us forget about his disability,” she says, adding that Joshua was elected bandmaster for the school band. Joshua says he hasn’t attended any formal music lessons but picked up various instruments from musicians in the family and at church. “My father taught me to play the keyboard when I was a toddler, and I began learning guitar, bass guitar, and drums from YouTube tutorials and by practicing at church,” says Joshua, who also plays the Djembe, an African percussion instrument.
“We encouraged him to pursue whatever he was interested in, and he signed up for many different extracurricular activities, from theatre to music. I must commend the school for giving him a conducive environment to hone his talents – when we asked if he wanted to move to a different school a few years ago, he refused,” recalls Joshua’s father Johnny, who also credits his wife Babita for Joshua’s gregarious personality.
While all the school facilities are fitted with ramps for wheelchair accessibility, the school ensured that Joshua’s classroom was always located on the ground floor. “My friends have been taking care of me since I started school. They wheeled me around, helped me get from one class to another, and made sure I was never left behind,” says Joshua. He gets together with his friends and cousins to play football quite often, moving surprisingly fast on his feet while using his arm to manoeuvre. “I play the goalkeeper position. I love football; it helps me stay physically fit,” he adds. Joshua says he couldn’t opt for prosthetic legs since he’s missing both thigh bones.
“There are high-end prosthetics available abroad, but they are very expensive,” he says, explaining why he is keen on pursuing computer engineering and robotics. “I would like to engineer prosthetics that are low-cost and can be accessed even by regular people like me,” he says earnestly.
Looking forward to junior college this year, Joshua has chosen computer science at St Xavier’s, Mapusa. “My parents have ordered a motorised wheelchair for me this year, so going to college on a hill isn’t going to be a problem,” he grins.
