Armless man supports family by writing calligraphy using his foott

He lost both his arms from an electrocution accident. In order for his children to finish school, the armless man studied calligraphy and eventually learned to use his feet to write. Every day, he and his wife leave home early to sell his calligraphic works. As soon as they appear on the street, a large crowd usually forms. Not long ago, reporters found this calligrapher using his feet to write "God helps those who help themselves" at a bus stop in Hongshan District, Wuhan City.

Yang Xingdong uses his feet to write "God helps those  who help themselves.

52-year-old Yang Xingdong comes from Anlu County, Hubei Province. 13 years ago, he left his hometown to work as a migrant worker. One day, he was carrying aluminum alloy strips to decorate a customer's apartment. Unfortunately, one of the aluminum strips touched an electric wire and he was electrocuted. In order to save his life, doctors had to amputate both of his arms. Yang Xingdong said:"when I woke up, I had no time to consider suicide, instead, what I thought about was how to make more money because I had two children and both of them needed me." At that time, one of his children was studying at a junior middle school and another at a primary school.

His medical expenses stood at over 20,000 yuan, worsening his family's financial situation. In order to make money to support his children's education, Yang Xingdong ran a chicken and hog farm. His business ended in failure, however. "Without arms, I could not work as an ordinary person, and there is a lot of manual labor involved in running a chicken and hog farm." Yang said: "this is the lowest point of my career. At that time, I could not support my family, especially my children, because I had lost my job."

With the help of his sister and brother-in-law, Yang Xingdong began to sell vegetables in 2000. As a vegetable vendor, Yang needed a price list. Therefore, he tried to use his feet to write. Day after day, he became better and better at writing Chinese characters with his feet. One year later, he began to sell his calligraphic works while selling vegetables. Finally, he was able to stop selling vegetables and only sell his calligraphic works. So far, he has been to Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Beijing to sell his work.

Now, Yang's children have graduated from universities and both have found jobs. Yang has decided to continue his way of living because he has been accustomed to it.

Translated by LOTO