Archive · 5 Aug 2026
Wheelchair at 14 Didn't Stop Her Career and First Car
A woman named Himanshika has a sickness called arthritis that makes her joints, the parts of the body that help us move, hurt.
She got the sickness when she was very young, and by the time she was 14 she could no longer walk, so she had to use a wheelchair.
Even though moving was hard, Himanshika loved to write stories.
When she was a teenager, her parents sold a gold ring and borrowed money to publish a book she wrote.
That book helped her meet other writers, and soon she started working from home as a writer.
People hired her for her writing and didn't care that she used a wheelchair.
She saved her money and bought her own car, which gave her freedom to go where she wanted.
She also helped her dad open a small restaurant and paid for her sister's school.
Himanshika still has pain every day, but she does physiotherapy, eats carefully, and never gives up.
Her story shows that even when your body struggles, you can still build a meaningful life.
Himanshika Sharma was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis at age eight and began using a wheelchair at 14 in 2014.
She built a full-fledged freelance writing career from home, with clients judging her only on the quality of her work.
Her mother sold a gold ring and her father borrowed money so her first book, written as a teenager, could be published.
Earlier this year she bought her own SUV, becoming the first woman in her family to own a car in her own name.
In 2024 she helped her father open his own small restaurant after years of financial struggles, and she has funded her sister's education at a top university.
- Who
- Himanshika Sharma, a freelance writer living with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis
- What
- Built a successful writing career and bought her family's first car despite using a wheelchair since age 14
- When
- Diagnosed at age eight; wheelchair use began in 2014; family relocated in 2024; SUV purchased earlier this year
- Where
- Ambala, India, where the family later relocated from in 2024
- Why
- She refused to let her disease define her life and was driven by a promise to protect her family from financial insecurity
- Name
- Himanshika Sharma
- Condition
- Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA)
- Wheelchair use
- Since 2014, at age 14
- Career
- Freelance writing from home
- First car
- SUV bought earlier this year
- Family milestone
- Helped father open a small restaurant in 2024
- Daily routine
- 45-minute physiotherapy every morning
- Source
- First-person account published by The Better India