A Chinese patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has been using eye-tracking devices to record his medical history, in an effort to provide data for future research on ALS treatment.

Tang Guian, a 53-year-old ALS patient from Yichang, Hubei province, has been suffering severe paralysis and speech impairments for over 8 years. According to Chinanews.com, Tang’s condition forces him to use an eye-tracking device to communicate with medical workers and family members. The device allows him to type and click through a special computer without the use of his hands or voice.

“It’s not easy to use the eye-tracking device to express myself. It used to take me 30 seconds to type a single character, but now I can type 10 to 20 in a minute,” typed Tang during an interview with Chinanews.com.

According to Tang, the eye-tracking technology offers him an alternative for literature creation and medical recording. As of press time, Tang has created 23 articles, most of which are inspirational stories based on personal experience. Tang also wrote poems and articles for medical workers and other patients in critical condition to express his gratitude and encourage them not to give up hope.

Tang’s optimism has not only inspired many people suffering from ALS, but has helped to stabilize his own health condition. According to Zeng Fanjun, a doctor from the respiratory department of Yichang Central People’s Hospital, most ALS patients will only survive for five years, but Tang has been living with the disease for over 14 years, which requires extraordinary willpower and courage.

“For the rest time of my life, I want to record my experience and feelings as an ALS patient, so that [scientists] can use the data to carry out research on ALS, possibly find a cure for the disease. This would be my biggest wish,” typed Tang.