Confession of a Taiwanese: After wearing prosthetic leg training for 2 months, I supported crutches and climbed mountains.

I want to get a prosthetic leg. This idea began to wander in my mind. This idea becomes even stronger once you encounter inconvenience, especially when you need help from your mother (or others). Perhaps wearing a prosthetic limb will relieve a lot of burden on everyone around you. I simulate in my mind all the time: If I had a prosthetic leg, maybe nothing would happen to me. If I stand up, maybe I can do something.

After two months of training with prosthetic limbs, I used crutches to climb mountains!

Through the help of the Sunshine Foundation, I first came into contact with a prosthetic company in August 2011. I am closer to having my own feet again. I never thought that I would have the opportunity to "stand up" and see the world. What I originally thought was a "daydream" is actually about to come true! After learning more about it, I realized that "prosthetics" are not like model dolls. You can assemble them when you buy them and display them after they are assembled. From preparation to installation, to installation and use, it can be said that the steps are complicated and the project is huge. If you think about it carefully, it seems reasonable. After all, the purpose of my prosthetic limb is to use it, not to display it.

The first step: modify the size.

Most people probably think that just like buying jeans, you should modify the size of the pants according to the waist, hip, foot length, etc. That's wrong, it's not about changing the size of the prosthesis, it's about changing my own size. It sounds like a horror movie, but it really happened. Even after an amputation, the bones in the stump continue to grow. When the car accident occurred and my leg was amputated, I was only 14 years old. I was in the stage of adolescence and my growth rate was even faster. After more than 4 years, nearly 2.5 centimeters of bone has grown out of the ends of the stumps of my feet.

In order to successfully wear the prosthetic limb, I had to go to the factory for repair. Through bone cutting surgery, the excess bone was removed and the force application point that was about to contact the prosthetic limb was smoothed. The bone cutting surgery was probably the most painful one for me after having 20 surgeries under my belt. Previous surgeries were mostly based on skin transplantation. Although it hurts, I can get over it by gritting my teeth and enduring it. Bone cutting is not an ordinary "skin injury", but a bone-piercing pain that cannot be comforted by blowing or blowing.

I still remember that the day after the operation, when the anesthesia wore off and the dressing time was changed, I really put aside my dignity and screamed. The shrill cries made even the nurses at the nursing station several rooms away feel incredible: "Which room is killing the pigs in the end?"

The second step: put on the prosthesis and stand up.

It will be about half a year until the wounds from the osteotomy surgery are almost healed. In February 2012, I returned to the prosthetic company again, and the boss made a mold based on the shape of my residual limbs. 1 week later, I saw "my feet". I was anxious to ask my boss to help me put on the prosthesis.

It’s amazing, I have feet! I looked down at the prosthetic leg that made me instantly grow 30 centimeters taller. My joy was incalculable. Finally, I looked forward to these “steel feet” that would accompany me into the future. In an instant, the view before my eyes changed, and so did my mood. It was like I was reborn.

I had to practice putting on the prosthesis with one hand first and how to stand up. After all, he has been in a wheelchair for more than four years, and has long been used to living a comfortable life with his amputated "leg." It has been useless for hundreds of years, and it is really not easy for "them" to suddenly stand up wearing rigid prosthetics and holding on to the railings.

The moment I stood up on my "new feet", the supporting points of my residual limbs felt numb and painful, but all I felt in my heart was emotion. Therefore, even if a series of processes are painful, tiring and painful, I will occasionally complain and occasionally be lazy. However, I never regret it. "I have to break through my limits. I have to get used to standing before I can move forward!" From the beginning, the practice was measured in seconds, then 1 minute, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, slowly progressed, and the more I stood, the more stable I was, and the longer I stood, the longer I stood. I struggled to get used to the feeling of being propped up with my prosthetic leg.

In order to achieve the goal of "walking as fast as flying" as soon as possible, I went to the training classroom attached to the prosthetic company every day for a whole month. I reported on time at 9 a.m. and went home after practicing at 4 p.m. I did not be late or leave early, and I practiced every minute and every second.

The third step: wear the prosthetic leg and walk.

After practicing standing for almost a week, I couldn’t stand it anymore. It’s not that I want to give up, I just want to move forward. I held on to the auxiliary railing and tried to move my steps with "small steps", and actually managed to take 3 or 4 steps forward. Not long after, I was walking around the practice track, holding on to the railing. One day, while I was practicing at a prosthetic company, my boss happened to see me walking. He praised me for my "rapid progress." He judged based on past experience that a person with only one hand would have to practice for at least 6 months before he could achieve results like mine. However, I could walk so well in just one month. I didn't tell my boss. In fact, every day when I go home, I ask my mother to walk up and down in front of me (she gets angry when her feet are sore). I want to use this method to get back the feeling I once had.

The boss’s approval was like a shot in the arm, giving me the confidence to “speed up the pace.” Once, Pastor Hong Zhenzhe invited me and my mother to go for a walk in Xitou. I had only been wearing prosthetic legs for about 3 months at that time. Just because I wanted to know whether my "new feet" would be good for walking, I boldly agreed. Early that morning, the pastor drove his wife, my mother, me, and Seven (the church’s pet dog) to Xitou. After arriving, I put on prosthetic legs and crutches and went hiking.

Of course, it is impossible to reach the finish line in one breath. The discomfort caused by the constant friction between the prosthetic limb and the residual limb made me have to take a break every 5 to 10 minutes after walking a few steps (because I brought a wheelchair, so I would sit back in the wheelchair when I was tired). Stop and go, stop and go, we still reached our destination!

In another month, I won’t even want to use crutches. The assistance of crutches does make it easier for me to walk, but I am also afraid that I will become overly dependent on it, not to mention that I am only 18 years old. If I really want to get it, it is not too late to get it when I get older. Therefore, I worked very hard to quit crutches. For example, I use "kneeling" to strengthen my thighs. My determination to get rid of the crutches as soon as possible and use my own strength to take every step often made me kneel until my knees were injured and bleeding.

The fourth step: keep working hard and strive for breakthrough.

It will be almost a year after wearing the prosthetic limb when the residual limb becomes more durable. If you want to walk steadily and gracefully while wearing a prosthetic leg, you must not only use your thigh muscles correctly to support the weight of the prosthetic leg that exceeds 2 kilograms on one side, but you must also have a full sense of balance. In order to train these two "key abilities", my mother bought a treadmill to put at home, so that I can "step forward" and practice adequately even in a small space like home.

The first few times, I surrendered after walking for 10 minutes. Even though I tried my best to imagine the prosthetic limb as my own foot, the pain was so severe that it made me feel that my foot was not even my own foot. "A little pain is nothing, I can definitely endure it!" Once, I tried to "hypnotize myself. I can endure it, but I am not so fragile. Because I can't stop at 10 minutes, I have to make progress. So 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes passed, and I continued to walk, continue to cry, and continue to make breakthroughs. When my pain index exploded and I had to stop, I discovered that this trip had actually lasted 35 minutes.

For me, walking with prosthetic limbs requires not only adaptation and practice, but also infinite endurance. After amputation, the bones of the residual limb are still in a "growing" state, and there will be a feeling that the bones are trying to break through the skin. Not just in developmental stages, some people are still growing in their 40s. Although bones do not grow faster than hair and nails, they will still cause "incompatibility" with the prosthetic limb. The skin of amputee patients without burns or scalds is still elastic, and the pain is naturally relatively mild. My skin has long since lost its elasticity, and the bones that have grown out are only covered by a thin layer of skin. When the bones come into contact with the prosthetic limb, it is probably like climbing on a stone road with your elbow on it, which is very uncomfortable.

When walking, the friction and contact between the residual limb and the prosthetic limb will become more severe, and the pain index will rise. This kind of pain cannot be eliminated. To put it simply, if you want to walk, you must endure it. Until now, it is still uncomfortable to walk. Every step I take hurts. However, if I can endure it and move forward, I am very willing.

It’s so cool, I have a pair of steel feet that I can’t hide. I remember the first time I went out wearing prosthetics, it was to Fengle Sculpture Park. There happened to be an event that day, and people were coming and going. I was a little hesitant whether I should get out of the car or just watch through the glass window as before. "No, I am no longer the same." As soon as I thought about it, I mustered up the courage and decided to get off the car. After getting off the car, I found that passers-by no longer stared at my face, but focused on my "feet".

So, I stood gracefully among the crowd and let them see enough at once. They must think my feet are "too handsome," because I feel the same way. This is not about feeling good about myself, but so far, I have never seen anyone with "steel feet" like me. It was completely unimaginable that I could expose my imperfections nakedly in front of others and still be myself without being pretentious or embarrassed.

This is completely different from my previous idea of "disguising". I originally told my mother that the prosthetic leg must be wrapped with artificial leather to make the "fake" prosthetic leg look like a real foot. I suddenly realized that a person's value is not estimated by appearance, nor is it rated through other people's eyes. Your own heart is the real master. When I clearly know my own value, my mentality will be different, and the temperament I exude will also change. When I accepted my own imperfections, I realized that I didn’t need to compare myself to the rest of the world. Everyone is unique, and so am I. I no longer think about how to make the fake become real. Instead, I like to wear shorts and go out so that everyone can see my difference. Once I started thinking this way, I also started to appreciate myself, especially my "difference".

At the scene of Nick Vujicic's speech event for tens of thousands of people, the theme of the speech was displayed on the large video wall - "You can make a difference." Those big 6 words have long been deeply imprinted on my life. I carved them on myself with my courage. Yes! I don’t want to hide behind a glass window anymore. I silently made a wish: These feet are the grace given to me by God. I will use these steel feet to travel around the beautiful world.

(The author experienced a car fire when he was 14 years old, burning off his feet, left hand and complete face, leaving only his right hand. This article is excerpted from pages 171 to 182 of the book "Cool! I Have a Pair of Steel Feet". Thanks to "Yuanshui Culture" for permission to reprint.)