The Story of Peng Shuilin

In  life we keep complaining about what is or why we  don't have. Half the time we seem  dissatisfied, though full-bodied and free to  choose. Fat people say,"I want to be slim."  Skinny people say,"I want to be  fatter." Poor people want to be rich and  rich are never satisfied with what they  have. Peng  Shuilin is 78cms high. He was born in Hunan  Province , China . In 1995, in Shenzhen, a  freight truck sliced his body in  half. His lower body and legs were beyond  repair. Surgeons  sewed up his torso. Peng Shuilin, 37,  spent nearly two years in hospital in Shenzhen,  southern China , undergoing a series of  operations to re-route nearly every major organ  or system inside his body. Peng  kept exercising his arms, building up strength,  washing his face and brushing his  teeth. He  survived against all odds. Now Peng  Shulin has astounded doctors by learning to walk  again after a decade. Considering  Peng's plight, doctors at the  China  Rehabilitation Research Centre in Beijing    devised an ingenious way to allow him to walk on  his own, creating a sophisticated egg cup-like  casing to hold his body, with two bionic legs  attached. It  took careful consideration, skilled measurement  and technical expertise. Peng has been  walking the corridors of Beijing Rehabilitation  Centre with the aid of his specially  adapted legs and a re-sized walking  frame. RGO is a recipicating gait orthosis, attached to a  prosthetic socket bucket. There is a  cable attached to both legs so when one goes  forward, the other goes backwards. Rock  to the side, add a bit of a twist and the leg  without the weight on it advances, while the  other one stays still giving a highly efficient way of ambulation. Oh, so  satisfying to 'walk' again after ten years with  half a body! Hospital  vice-president Lin Liu said: "We've just given  him a checkup; he is fitter than most men his  age." Peng Shuilin has opened his own  bargain supermarket, called the Half Man-Half  Price Store.  The inspirational  37-year-old has become a businessman and is  used as a role model for other amputees. At just 2ft 7ins tall, he moves around in a wheelchair giving lectures on  recovery from disability. His attitude is  amazing, he doesn't complain. "He had  good care but his secret is cheerfulness.  Nothing ever gets him down." You have  a whole body. You have feet. Now you have  met a man who has no feet. His life is a  feat of endurance; a triumph of the human spirit in overcoming extreme  adversity. Next  time you want to complain about something  trivial, don't. Remember  Peng Shulin instead.