Mumbai Comedian Wheels 3 Miles After Metro Lift Fails

Karan Shah needed to get home from work, but the lift at Mumbai's Worli metro station wasn't working. For the 26-year-old comedian who uses a wheelchair due to Spinal Muscular Atrophy, that broken lift meant there was no way to catch his train.

He did what anyone would do. He called the emergency helpline and waited for help to arrive.

Forty-five minutes later, someone finally answered. Their solution? "Go on foot." Karan turned his camera toward the busy traffic and asked the question we're all thinking: How exactly does someone in a wheelchair travel on foot from Worli to Dadar?

With no other choice, Karan wheeled himself three miles through dangerous traffic to reach home. Along the way, he desperately needed a bathroom. Not a single one was wheelchair accessible.

"That night, I wasn't scared because I'm disabled," Karan said in a video that's now gone viral. "I was scared because the system failed me at every step. Lifts, helplines, roads, washrooms—everything made me feel disabled."

Karan knows a thing or two about turning obstacles into opportunities. When he lost his older brother to cardiac arrest at age 14—his brother also had SMA—Karan chose laughter over despair. He became a comedian, sharing his experiences through humor on his Instagram page where he calls himself a "rolling comedian."

His therapist once told him to deal with problems "step by step." Karan laughed at the irony. When his wheelchair gets pushed up a ramp, he jokes that "God gave me a permanent ramp." As a certified dog behaviorist, he even trained his own service dog, Angel, after receiving her as a gift from choreographer Shiamak Davar.

Why This Inspires

Karan's story isn't just about one broken lift. It's about a comedian with an infectious spirit who refuses to let a system that fails him take away his joy. His viral video has sparked conversations about accessibility across India, turning his terrifying journey into a teaching moment for millions.

Every time Karan shares his story with humor and honesty, he's making it a little easier for the next person who needs that lift to work. That's the kind of persistence that changes systems.

His message is simple: accessibility isn't luxury infrastructure—it's basic human dignity, and we can all do better.