A Chinese Paralympian and double amputee who learned how to walk with a help of basketball is an inspiration to many. Qian Hongyan, also known as 'basketball girl' attracted the attention of public in 2005 when a picture of her walking with the help of a basketball and wooden-handled paddles went viral.
The now-26-year-old girl lost both her legs in a car accident involving a large truck in 2000 at the age of four in Luliang Country, in southwestern China’s Yunnan province. Her grandfather cut open a basketball, filled it with cotton and placed her inside so she could learn to walk again and that’s how she earned her nickname “Basketball Girl.”
She first received her artificial limbs at in 2005 at the age of nine at the China Rehabilitation Centre, and was gradually fitted with bigger limbs as she grew.
In 2007, Qian joined a swimming club for the disabled as she was deeply touched after watching the Paralympic Games and wanted to prove herself too. The 11-year-old girl started her career under Zhang Honghu, the swimming coach of the Chinese Paralympic delegation.
Qian worked hard and practices for at least three to four hours every day because she knew it was going to difficult to swim on a normal speed like other healthy swimmers. All her efforts did not go to waste because she managed to win three golds at Yunnan's ninth games for the disabled, and in the same year, she brought home one gold and two silvers at the National Games.
At the age of 18, Qian received her free prosthesis for her adult body in 2013. She continued to represent Chinese athletes and at the Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, where she placed ninth. She didn't make it to the Summer Paralympics that took place in Tokyo but she managed to place third in the 400-meter final at the National Games in Tianjin in 2019.
“Before I learned to swim, I was ‘the basketball girl.’ I walked out my home and saw the world from a low angle. Then, after I was fitted with a pair of prosthetics, I saw the world at my regular height, since I started swimming and taking part in the Paralympics, I now feel like I have a much wider worldview,” she told a daily news portal in 2016.
The 26-year-old athlete made multiple headlines and received media attention for who she is today. Qian has turned her sad childhood into a life filled with inspiration. Nothing is impossible for a willing heart.
