Disclaimer: I got this in an email and am just repeating it here lock, stock and barrel. I apologise for whatever grammar mistakes within. I think there're a few. Whatever it is. Do watch the video.
But read the story first before you watch it...
It is truly inspiring. This is what I guess people call "Can-do".
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The girl (Ma Li) was a beautiful and promisingprofessional ballerina when she lost her right arm in acar accident in 1996. She was only 19 at that time. There after, her handsome boy friend walked away fromher.
She tried to kill herself only to be saved by her parents. Her love for her parents gave her the strength to live. She learned how to live her life independently and one day someone asked her to coach a Children’s dancing group.
From that point on, she realized she could not forget dancing. She still loved ballet. She wanted to dance again. So she started to do some of her old routines. But because of the lost of one arm, she had also lost her sense of balance. It took a while before she could even makie simple turns and spins without falling. Eventuallyshe got it.
Five years later in 2001, she was invited to compete at the 5th national special performing art competition for handicaps and won the gold medal. That success gave her the hope to return to her beloved stage.
In 2002, a handsome 20-year-old young man, Li Tao fell madly in love with Ma Li who ran a way from him for fearof being hurt again. After she disappeared in Beijing,Tao searched her up and down despite his parents' strong objection and ridicule. He finally found her dancing in a bar. They have never been separated since.
They were very broke when SARS was spreading because all theaters were closed. In 2004, he got a license to be her legitimate agent and was trying to help her develop a unique performance. In a cold snowy night, when the two huddled in an underpass to wait for sunrise in order to catch a bus after a long day at a movie shooting site working as extras, she suddenly had the urge to dance in the snow with him. She had used her dance to tell him her story so manytimes before and this time, after their 'dance' ended, he suddenly realized that THIS should be her unique performance.
In September 2005, Ma Li came to know of a 21-year-old young man, Zhai Xiaowei who had lost his left leg in anaccident. He climbed on a tractor when he was 4 years old and fell off the tractor and lost his left leg.At the point when the doctor told him that his leg will have to be amputated, Zhai Xiaowei's dad asked his young son, 'The doctor will have to amputate your leg. Are you afraid?'
Young innocent Zhai Xiaowei couldn't comprehend whatwould be so different so he said to his dad: 'No, I amnot afraid.' His dad then said, 'You are going to face many challenges and difficulties in life, are you afraid?' The boy asked, 'What are 'challenges and difficulties?' Do they taste good?' His dad laughed with tears, 'Yes, they're like your favorite candies. You just need to eat them one piece ata time!' Then his dad ran out of the hospital room in tears.
In 2005, when Ma Li first came to meet Zhai Xiaowei, he was being trained to be a cyclist for the national special Olympics. He had tried high-jump, long-jump, diving,swimming, and just settled on cycling. He had never danced before. Ma Li persuaded Zhai Xiaowei to dance with her. As he had never danced and suddenly he was being asked to dance with one leg. He turned her down.
But she didn’t give up. He finally agreed with some reluctance. Zhai Xiaowei initially didn't understand how he could'dance,' so Ma Li invited him to see her performing in a dance, with another male actor. The title of the dancewas 'Hand-in-hand'. Zhai Xiaowei felt that he saw a perfect soul dancing on the stage and agreed to give it a try.
Ma Li and Li Tao (Ma L's boy friend) treated Zhai Xiaowei like their younger brother and they stayed under the same roof during the intensive training and practice that were more than one year. One would not be able to imagine the kind of challenges and difficulties they faced.
Zhai Xiao Wei had no dancing background and Ma Li is a perfectionist. She started to teach him Dancing 101. Their dance partnership broke up a few times because Zhai Xiaowei had no concept of using muscle control with his body and a few other basic things about dancing. When Ma Li became frustrated and lose patience with him, he would walk out.
Eventually they came back together and started training, hiring a choreographer to design routines for them. All they did was to train and to practice from 8 a.m. to 11p.m. day-in and day-out until the three of them ran out of money. Their future looked very gloomy until early 2007 when Ma Li and Zhai Xiaowei decided to participate in the 4th CCTV National Dance Competition in China.
And the rest is history.
In April 2007, they were one of the finalists among 7000 competitors in the dance competition. It is the first time a handicapped couple ever entered the competition. MaLi and Zhai Xiaowei won the Silver medal with the 99.17 high score and not to mention the highest audience popular votes. They became an instant national hit. The end result was beyond their wildest dreams.
In the video you will see them dance beautifully, and legitimately beat others in the competition!Here is the video of their performance at thecompetition. The dance title is 'Hand-in-hand' which in fact tells the life stories of both Ma Li and Zhai Xiaowei
http://www.learningchamp.com/hand-in-hand/dance
Their performance brings tears to my eyes each time when I watch it. It was just so touching and motivating. You will be touched...The next time when you hear yourself or someone else say,“I can’t”, just play this video.
I sincerely encourage you to forward this email to your spouse, your children, family members, relatives, friends, colleagues and everyone that you know. It is just so heart warming to read the story about these two young people and watch their performance. Please spread the words as the world need more of such encouragement and inspirational stories.
