A ‘hero’ woman with no forearms blazes a way for disabled people, vowing to ‘enjoy love’ and ‘pursue beauty’ despite her ‘unique’ life
A 28-year-old lady in China who lacks forearms has led a colorful life with confidence, attracting a big number of online fans who have been moved by her character.
Xu Fangyan, a seven-year-old from southern China’s Sichuan province, lost her forearms after touching a high voltage transformer.
Xu claimed she stayed strong even after the amputation.
She didn’t want to rely on her older sister, who had been helping her with her everyday tasks.
As a result, she learned to care for herself, used what was left of her damaged limbs to write, and was able to return to school after a few months.
Using the social media account @haimianbaobao, she has been sharing facts about her colorful life, which has inspired many people and helped her get 36,000 followers.
Xu recorded videos of herself applying makeup, playing ping pong, and even disclosing her work habits.
She has worked as a member of a state-owned enterprise’s customer service team and is adept in typing.
Xu said she was astonished to learn that the life she had grown accustomed to was unfamiliar to others.
This inspired her to reveal more of her life, demonstrating that disabled women, like able-bodied individuals, could enjoy love and pursue beauty.
Xu stated that her life was not always smooth sailing.
She had experienced self-doubt when her peers treated her differently, and she had been turned down numerous times when looking for work after graduating from Chengdu Neusoft University, a private college in the southern province of Sichuan.
But her family’s unwavering love and support helped her get through.
When she was turned down by firms, her father informed her, “It is these employers’ loss to not have you.”
Optimistic Xu even became an equestrian in 2023, after being invited by a member of staff at a local crippled people’s federation to join China’s first para-equestrian team in Chengdu.
She has won multiple equestrian contests since 2023, defeating able-bodied competitors.
Xu stated that her parents had passed away, but her sister had never missed a tournament.
Aside from numerous pastimes, she accepted the duty of enhancing product designs to meet the demands of disadvantaged women like herself.
She stated that she had advised cosmetics companies to change the design of their bottle lids so that armless persons could open them more easily.
She recently made news on mainland social media by demonstrating how she modified menstrual pads in an effort to provide producers with inclusive design ideas.
“We do not want special treatment, we just want to be included,” she told me.
Some online users affectionately dubbed her Doraemon because the round joint at the tip of her residual limbs reminded them of the Japanese anime character, a robotic cat with round hands who can solve a variety of issues.
“You are a shero,” one remark under one of her posts said.
“You are most beautiful when you are confident,” added another.
“Her make-up skills are even better than an able-bodied woman like me,” added a third person.
