From “Basketball Girl” to Paralympic Champion After losing…
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From “Basketball Girl” to Paralympic Champion
After losing both of her legs in a devastating car accident at just four years old, her family was too poor to afford artificial limbs, leaving her grandfather to invent a creative solution to help her move: cutting a basketball in half to fit her torso and carving two wooden handles for her hands. Known as the "Basketball Girl," photos of her propelling herself along dirt roads touched hearts worldwide, eventually leading to generous donations that funded her first set of proper prosthetic legs and rehabilitation. Refusing to let her physical condition limit her dreams, she channeled her strength into the water, mastering competitive swimming through intense discipline and going on to represent China as a multi-medal-winning Paralympic swimmer.
#fun
After losing both of her legs in a devastating car accident at just four years old, her family was too poor to afford artificial limbs, leaving her grandfather to invent a creative solution to help her move: cutting a basketball in half to fit her torso and carving two wooden handles for her hands. Known as the "Basketball Girl," photos of her propelling herself along dirt roads touched hearts worldwide, eventually leading to generous donations that funded her first set of proper prosthetic legs and rehabilitation. Refusing to let her physical condition limit her dreams, she channeled her strength into the water, mastering competitive swimming through intense discipline and going on to represent China as a multi-medal-winning Paralympic swimmer.
#fun
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Known as "Basketball Girl" after using a split basketball to move, Qian Hongyan defied the odds. She channeled her upper body strength into swimming and became a Paralympic champion.
