A 19-year-old visually challenged girl, who is a Youtuber, singer and motivational speaker, from Kerala's Kochi has topped in CBSE Class 12 in the students with disabilities category. Hannah Alice Simon, who is suffering from Microphthalmia (a birth defect that resulted in blindness for her), has scored 496 out of 500.


"Really happy & grateful to God," she said as quoted by news agency ANI, after the results for CBSE Class 12 for students with disabilities category were out.


Gritty Simon despite facing hardships and challenges since her childhood, continued to study in a normal school instead of special school. "My parents made this choice for me - when you study in a special school for 12 yrs you are cut off from the rest of the world. So, my parents thought that instead of shifting from a special school to a normal school, it was better to study in a normal school from beginning," Hannah told ANI.


After making her mark in Class 12 exams, Hannah broke the silence over the challenges she faced while competing with normal students of her age and studying in a normal school. "I was bullied when I was young and other students kept me at a distance. But I knew I would face these challenges in my life, so facing them from early childhood has made me strong to face the bigger challenges of life," the teenager, who hailed from Kochi, said.