The Story of Peng Shuilin
Man with bottom end of torso removed
In life we keep complaining about what is or why we don't have. Half the time we seem dissatisfied,
though full-bodied and free to choose. Fat people say, "I want to be slim." Skinny people say,
"I want to be fatter." Poor people want to be rich and rich are never satisfied with what they have.
PENG Shuilin is 78cms high. He was born in Hunan Province, China. In 1995, in Shenzhen, a freight
truck sliced his body in half. His lower body and legs were beyond repair.
Surgeons sewed up his torso. Peng, 37, spent nearly two years in a hospital in Shenzhen,
southern China, undergoing a series of operations to re-route nearly every major organ or
system inside his body. Peng kept exercising his arms, building up
strength, washing his face and brushing his teeth.
He survived against all odds. Now Peng Shulin has astounded doctors by learning to walk again
after a decade.
Considering Peng's plight, doctors at the China Rehabilitation Research Centre in Beijing
devised an ingenious way to allow him to walk on his own, creating a sophisticated egg
cup-like casing to hold his body, with two bionic legs attached.
It took careful consideration, skilled measurement and technical expertise. Peng has
been walking the corridors of Beijing Rehabilitation Centre with the aid of his specially
adapted legs and a resized walking frame.
RGO is a reciprocating gait orthotic, attached to a prosthetic socket bucket. There is a
cable attached to both legs so when one goes forward, the other goes backwards. Rock to the
side, add a bit of a twist and the leg without the weight on it advances, while the other
one stays still, giving a highly inefficient way of ambulation. Oh so satisfying to 'walk' again
after ten years with half a body!
Hospital vice-president Lin Liu said: "We've just given him a checkup; he is fitter than
most men his age." Peng Shuilin has opened his own bargain supermarket, called the Half Man-Half
Price Store. The inspirational 37-year-old has become a businessman and is used as a role model
for other amputees. At just 2ft 7ins tall, he moves around in a wheelchair giving lectures
on recovery from disability. His attitude is amazing, he doesn't complain. "He had good care,
but his secret is cheerfulness. Nothing ever gets him down.
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