Chinese wheelchair tennis athlete Dong Fuli prepares for the coming event.[Xinhua]

Paralympic athlete Dong Fuli is glowing when she recalls the June 1 Children's Day 32 years ago.

Basking in admiring stares of her schoolmates, the 7-year-old Dong, dressed in a red skirt made by her mother, performed a solo dance at the center of a square in north Chinese city Tangshan. "I have decided to be a dancer when I grow up," she told her mother that night.

Grow up she will, dance she will never.

A catastrophic earthquake flattened Tangshan on July 28, 1976, killed Dong's father and took away her right leg. When she was 19, her mother died.

"'Kid, you must be strong. Life is supposed to be fun and you've only got one to live. Do what is best for you.' That was what my mother told me before she died," Dong said.

"My mother's words are ringing in my ears all the time. I'm happy to be alive and I'm happy to be a Paralympic athlete," she added.

Dong took a job in the city's horticulture department at the age of 21.

"My superiors and colleagues really cared about me. They gave me easy work to do. I had regular income. Life was good. But I felt I meant to be something," recalled Dong.

Dong met a wheelchair basketball player by chance and the latter suggested she try sports because she looked physically strong.