Striving unceasingly to walk out a road to prosperity, diligent struggle achieves a good life

He lost his left lower limb in an accident, yet he strove unceasingly and fought tenaciously to start his own business. Relying on raising pigs, his annual income exceeded 100,000 yuan. With his diligent hands he changed his fate, and on a single leg he walked out a road to prosperity through entrepreneurship.

He is Luo Sanmin, a 52-year-old disabled man from Luopo Group, Bali Village, Chengguan Town, Luonan County.

Disaster from the blue: losing his left leg

I first met Luo Sanmin on a warm winter afternoon. Tall and thin, with a dark red face, slightly hunched, swaying a little when he walked, and a simple, honest smile, he struck one immediately as an ordinary farmer. But the fortitude and strength in his eyes and the quickness and wisdom in his speech made it hard for us to believe that this optimistic, confident man before us was the prosthetic-wearing disabled person we had come to interview.

In the interview we learned that Luo Sanmin, born in the early 1960s, grew up in a poor family. In 1977, having just graduated from junior high school, he was forced by circumstances to learn business from relatives, trading livestock, wholesaling fruit and vegetables... Because he was clever and eager to learn, honest and trustworthy, and unafraid of hardship, he quickly mastered the tricks of business, and his business thrived.

But a sudden disaster shattered reality. On the 21st day of the 12th lunar month in 1996, the north wind howled and snow on the road froze into ice. Luo Sanmin, carrying a full truckload of pigs to sell outside the mountains, had hoped to fetch a good price to send his three children to school the following year. But who could have guessed that when the truck reached an icy, snowy curve within Shimen Town, the vehicle skidded and collided with a large truck coming the other way, and Luo Sanmin was knocked unconscious on the spot.

When Luo Sanmin woke up, he found himself lying on a hospital bed in the county hospital. Seeing his wife crying as if she were a tearful figure before the bed, Luo Sanmin understood everything. After the accident, his younger brother, who had been traveling with him, rushed him to the county hospital. After the doctor's examination and diagnosis, Luo Sanmin's left leg was found to be a comminuted fracture below the knee, and his left upper limb ulna and radius and left middle finger were all fractured. Faced with such a serious condition, the doctor announced that a lower limb amputation must be performed immediately, otherwise the massive bleeding and infection of the lower limb would threaten his life. Faced with this difficult choice, Luo Sanmin was in unbearable pain.

After staying in the hospital for 2 months, Luo Sanmin, dragging an empty left trouser leg, his upper limb in a heavy plaster cast, went home on crutches. In theory Luo Sanmin could have received some compensation for the accident, but because the other party had no ability to pay at all, this accident not only exhausted Luo Sanmin's original savings, but also cost him his ability to work.

Building self-confidence, fighting tenaciously to start a business

"The three children are still in elementary school, and I've become a useless person. How will we get through the days ahead!" After the amputation, Luo Sanmin often touched his empty trouser leg and sank into pain and despair. He even wanted to use his temper to "force" his wife to divorce him, but his gentle wife was always neither angry nor impatient, and her meticulous care for him made this grown man burst into tears.

Facing his haggard wife and his young, innocent children, and thinking of his responsibility as a man, Luo Sanmin, after painful reflection, decided to stand up again, and resolved to live with dignity and to support this family with his own hands.

"What can I do all day on crutches? I'll make myself a prosthetic leg with my own hands." Luo Sanmin wondered how he could truly stand up. He had his wife cut down several paulownia trees in the yard, and began teaching himself to make a prosthetic leg from paulownia wood. But since he had never learned carpentry, each prosthetic he made was either too big or too small and could not fit him properly. After making more than ten paulownia wood prosthetics, he finally managed to make one that suited him, only to find that the paulownia wood prosthetic could not bear weight. In addition, the joint between the wood and his leg was not smooth enough and lacked elasticity, and the friction caused his leg to swell with pain so that he could not even put on clothes, let alone walk.

Later, Luo Sanmin went to the Xi'an Prosthetics Center and spent more than 1,000 yuan to have a prosthetic fitted for himself. Because he had previously used the paulownia wood prosthetic he made himself, he quickly adapted to life with a prosthetic. Gradually Luo Sanmin was able to go out and work in the fields, and he even bought a medium-sized truck. Today, whether working or driving, Luo Sanmin is almost no different from an able-bodied person.

In 2012 the Kadoorie project was implemented in Luonan County, and Luo Sanmin also welcomed the second spring of his life. After attending soft-skills training classes held by the Luonan County Disabled Persons' Federation many times, Luo Sanmin gradually overcame his inferiority complex and built up confidence in life. After that, the county disabled persons' federation also replaced Luo Sanmin's prosthetic free of charge, issued him a Level 2 disability certificate so that he could receive a monthly living allowance for disabled persons, and repeatedly came to his home specifically to coach him in pig-raising techniques. Seeing that the whole of society cares for disabled people and encourages them to start businesses, Luo Sanmin was no longer self-abased or confused, and his determination and confidence to prosper through entrepreneurship became even firmer.

Full of confidence, Luo Sanmin again drove his truck to Weinan, Dali, Henan and other places to sell fruit, livestock and vegetables, and vigorously developed the pig industry. With a certain income, Luo Sanmin's drive to prosper grew even stronger.

A single leg can also walk out a road to prosperity

Because wearing a prosthetic made movement inconvenient, and because long-term rushing about through wind and rain was too tiring, Luo Sanmin decided to devote himself wholeheartedly to developing the pig industry.

Starting in 2012, Luo Sanmin continuously expanded the scale of his pig farming. He invested more than 20,000 yuan in succession and built a 4-room, 2-story pig house, constantly increasing the number of pigs raised and also adding sows. In this way, the piglets born to the sows continued to join the breeding operation, forming a virtuous cycle. Today, Luo Sanmin's pig-farming scale has expanded year by year, and the number of pigs on hand has grown from the original dozen or so to more than 100 at present, while income has increased from the original several tens of thousands of yuan to more than 100,000 yuan.

In the blink of an eye many years have passed. Over these years, Luo Sanmin has had a very hard time, but also a very happy one. Over these years, he has never been discouraged or given up, remaining tenacious and optimistic, striving unceasingly, changing his own fate by relying on his diligent hands and clever mind, and walking out a road to prosperity on a single leg. He built a 6-room, two-story small western-style house, his children can all attend school with peace of mind, and he has become the village's leader in prosperity.

While prospering through entrepreneurship, Luo Sanmin did not forget his fellow villagers. He taught the pig-raising experience and insights he had gained over many years to the villagers and disabled people around him without reservation. Under his demonstration and guidance, disabled people from neighboring villages such as Sun Fumin and Wang Xiaomin also escaped their difficulties and set out on a road to prosperity through entrepreneurship.

Luo Sanmin told us that he believes his road will grow wider and wider and his days will get better and better, and that he will work hard together with his fellow villagers to develop the pig industry even better and create a happy life of his own.