Young Chinese man living with disability regains confidence after transformation into multi-sport para-athlete

Zhang Qinghong arrives in Lhasa, the capital city of Xizang Autonomous Region in southwest China. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

When he was only 12 years old, Zhang Qinghong accidently touched a high-voltage power line and suffered an electric shock, which resulted in his right leg, as well as the palm of his right hand and an area on the left side of his waist being severely burned. At the time, the doctors decided to amputate his right leg in order to save his life.

“I was very devastated at the beginning, but my parents never stopped in their efforts to lift me out of the pit of despair,” said Zhang, whose hometown is in southwest China’s Yunnan Province.

Nowadays, apart from being a man living with physical disabilities, the 22-year-old has gained many titles, such as that of an athlete and a cyclist, having ridden a bike all the way to Xizang, an autonomous region in southwest China.

One day, when he was watching TV, which was broadcasting the Asian Para Games held in Incheon, South Korea, Zhang received an encouraging boost after seeing athletes living with physical disabilities going all out to compete in various sports, including para-athlete swimmers pushing themselves to their limits while competing in the swimming pool. After witnessing the competition, he then told his mother that he wanted to become a swimmer, too.

In 2017, Zhang participated in the first-ever sports games in his life-time – the National Disabled Swimming Championship. One year later during the 11th Games for Persons with Disabilities in Yunnan Province, he won a gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke event, a silver medal in the 50-meter freestyle event and another silver medal in the 4x4 200-meter medley relay event.

Zhang gradually regained confidence thanks to his achievements in swimming. However, he suffered a waist injury one day when he was practicing his swimming in 2019. As a result, he unfortunately had to stop partaking in swimming from then on. “I didn’t know what I could do at that time,” Zhang recalled.

It was sports that always helped him get through the most difficult of times. So facing the possibility of being unable to continue with his swimming, he chose to ride a bike from Yunnan all the way to Xizang, covering a distance of more than 2,000 kilometers during his 32-day trip.

“This experience made me reconsider my life and I gained encouragement during it,” Zhang expressed.

After he returned home from Xizang, Zhang was invited by Yang Shulong, a head athletics coach in the Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan, to try his luck in track and field. Zhang accepted the invitation without hesitation.

However, compared with swimming, running and long jump were more challenging for the man. During his training, he had to make painstaking efforts to find a way to coordinate his prosthetic leg with his other leg. After one day of training, Zhang would always find that his left knee would throb in pain because of the greater stress he had to put on it in order to support his full body. In the meantime, the inside of his prosthetic leg was always soaked with sweat during training sessions.

In September 2022, the 12th Games for Persons with Disabilities in Yunnan Province is scheduled to open in Yuxi city, Yunnan. Zhang has already signed up to participate in the competition, noting confidently that “my goal is to win first place in both the running and long jump events.”

“Physical disabilities can’t define me. I face the reality and accept it, and then I change my future through painstaking efforts. This is what I’m thinking about, and so sports have made me more confident and optimistic,” the man said.