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Love wakes my dream
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Han Ximin
CHEN JING was finally able to walk again, after being nearly paralyzed by severe rheumatoid arthritis for eight years.
Though climbing and descending stairs still causes pain and she frequently has to use a wheelchair to get around, her turnaround is still nothing short of miraculous. Chen gives credit for her improvement to her own tenacious hope and the loving care of her husband, Wang Ke, and the other people around her.
"Without the love of my husband and the help of the Nanshan District Association for Disabled Persons, I may well have been stuck leading a desperate and pessimistic life," Chen told Shenzhen Daily recently.
A collection of drawings hanging in her simple room illustrate her artistic pursuit and deep longing. Years of struggle with the disease, though, has left few marks. The 46-year-old woman looks much younger and has the vitality of a 20-year-old.
In addition to her drawings, the most eye-catching objects in the room are a super-large refrigerator and facilities that make her life easier.
The refrigerator is also used to store medicine, bought by her husband from different regions in the country. He also redesigned the buttons on the gas cooker, locks and lamps for her convenience.
Chen was forced to leave her job in 1992 because of her disease. After a long period of desperation, she soberly took stock of her life. Wang Ke, meanwhile, quit his office job to earn more money to support the family.
With the help of her husband, Chen rebuilt her confidence. She attended English evening classes at the Shekou Training Centre, accompanied by her husband.
Chen was born to be an artist. Her dream of studying art design at a college became a reality with the support of her husband. In 1996, she started her three-year college education in her wheelchair at the Central Institute of Arts and Crafts in Beijing.
Chen's dream this year is to hold a personal drawing exhibition in Nanshan District. Meanwhile, for her unremitting efforts, she won second prize with the Shunjing Awarding Plan, started by a Hong Kong businessman to help the city's disabled. She was also named a model disabled person of Nanshan District last year.
"I failed the institute's entrance examination 25 years ago, but now I have finished the college programme there. I was doomed to be in a wheelchair eight years ago when I limped my way supported by my husband, yet now the two of us are walking towards a bright future together," said Chen.
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