Discharged from the hospital, He became very emotional. When his parents fed him with a spoon, He refused and fed himself by burying his head to the food.

In primary school, He sat in the back of classroom and learned to write with feet. When his classmates laughed at him, He head-butted or kicked at them. Once he kicked a boy who tried bully him to the pond.

In order to fend off teasing to his son, He's father dropped him off school and taught him to feed the ducks. He enjoyed these days very much. He could play with friends and swim in the pond.

In 1995, a sports official with the disabled-person association spotted He's swimming talent and put him on the Hubei team in central China.

Five years later, he made a Paralympic debut in Sydney, grabbing a set of medals.

HARD-WON BUT HAPPY MARRIAGE

In a June night, three months before the Beijing Paralympics, He and his wife Zhao Min walked on a quiet race track, sat down to lean on each other and looked up to the starry skies. Not far from them, their four-year-old son Diandian was writing Arabic numbers on the sand, chuckling to himself at times.

"I feel I'm the happiest woman now," Zhao, who hasn't seen her husband for more than one year, told a Hubei newspaper.

He and Zhao met in a hotspring resort in Yunnan province 2000, where He was training with the national team and Zhao was a waitress. When Zhao cleaned his room, she always helped He dry his towels and swimming suits. He was deeply impressed by the kind-hearted girl, but only dared to say a shy "Thanks you!" to her.

When the training ended, He had to leave the resort, but his heart was left there. He couldn't help missing the girl and knew he was in love. He regained his courage to call the girl who stole his heart and tell his feeling. "She said no and explained that her parents wouldn't allow her to marry a disabled man. But I didn't give up."

He continued to phone Zhao, wrote love letters and shared his childhood stories and his future plan with her. "I will bring you a gold medal from Sydney Paralympics and please wait for me," He promised to Zhao before his first Paralympics.

Returning with three medals of different colors, He proposed to Zhao and she said yes.

However, the lovers met opposition from Zhao's parents. When He made his first visit to Zhao's family, her parents summoned more than 40 relatives to show their opposition to the marriage. "He mother explained to me then, saying though you are a good man, you have no hands and arms. If you have child in the future, you couldn't even hug him. Please leave my daughter," He called.

He was hurt but still didn't give up. When he had free time, he would take train to Zhao's family, helping her parents do chores as much as he could. Finally, his true heart changed Zhao's parents' minds. On a Valentine's Day in 2004, He and Zhao got married. Five months later, their son was born.

He said though he couldn't hug his lovely son, he could carry him on his back. Though he couldn't embrace his wife, he had his own ways to express love.

"No one is perfect, neither are able-bodied people," said He. "I have no regret in my life. The most important thing is that how you look at yourself. If you are confident and strong-minded, you will be the strong man in your life," said He.

(Xinhua News Agency September 15, 2008)