How can an armless torchbearer like He Zhigang carry the Olympic torch?
Last year, during the 7th National Games for the Disabled, the 40-year-old managed by allowing another person to carry the torch while he did the running.
"To be honest, I didn't feel like a torchbearer at that time," He, a calligrapher and multi-championship winner at provincial and national sports games for the disabled from Lijiang, Yunnan province, said.
As a torchbearer for the 2008 Olympics, He decided to hold the torch himself this time, with the help of a custom-made artificial arm.
"It is an artificial arm, but at least I feel like I am carrying it," the excited He said, soon after he finished his run yesterday in Kunming, capital city of Yunnan province.
"The Beijing Olympics is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for each one of us, I simply don't want to miss the chance to be part of it."
He lost both his arms in an accident at the age of 11. He could have missed much in life had there not been his father, admitted the torchbearer.
Soon after the accident, his father asked him to read the words of the national anthem. When he came to the line, "We must stand up and proceed with our march, never can we be slaves", his father stopped him saying, "Remember this sentence forever."
"You shouldn't make yourself a slave of destiny," his father said. This became He's motto.
With his father as a teacher, He learned how to take care of himself. First he tried to dress and feed himself. Later, he could even prepare dinner for the family, wash clothes and feed pigs.
"I could do what other boys could for the family," he said.
He's father also taught him to keep a strong physique. Together they jogged 1.5 km every morning. It was this practice that laid the foundation for the 26 gold medals he later went on to win in various sports events.
More importantly, he learned to write with his teeth, which became his trade.
"In a real sense, there is no difference between disabled and normal people as long as they have gentle minds and active attitudes toward life," said He, who is now an owner of a bookstore within the ancient city of Lijiang, listed as one of the World Heritage Sites.
In his bookstore, which has become a must-visit place for tourists to Lijiang, He sells his calligraphy to a great number of amazed tourists from across the world.
He said he plans to exhibit his torch along with the artificial arm in his bookstore.
"One day, I might be able to have an intelligent artificial arm that I might control like it is part of my body.
"Then I can hold the torch and feel the torch," He said.
"It sounds like a dream, but who knows? We are going to host the Olympics, aren't we?"
Source: China Daily
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