After coming into this world, Si Jing enjoyed only 270 days of health before being struck with infantile paralysis, or polio. She has since undergone more than 70 operations, including having three steel rods implanted to support her spine. Denied the opportunity to attend school, she taught herself to read and write when she was 17 and is now a published author. From her wheelchair, she has delivered more than 400 speeches across the country. She has worked as a psychological counselor for many years, using her own experience and sincerity as well as her hard-won training to help countless troubled people.

Her life has been nothing short of miraculous, but Si Jing has created many of her own miracles. She views setbacks as valuable teaching tools, necessary for eventual success, and she firmly believes that anyone can achieve happiness through his or her own efforts.

Tragic childhood

Si Jing was born on July 27, 1962, in Qiqihar, in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. When she was nine months old, she fell ill with polio. For a time she was completely paralyzed, able to move nothing but her eyes.

Although her parents made every effort to get the best medical treatment for her, all the doctors they visited said that the case was hopeless and that they should prepare themselves for the baby's death. But Si Jing's hold on life was strong. She survived, and when she was three years old her parents sent her to live with her great-aunt in Lanxi County.

Lanxi is a poor county and Si's great-aunt owned a small house consisting of two rooms and a kitchen. A smart and capable woman, she demanded obedience and respect from those around her. Her unsmiling face often made others feel as if they had done something wrong.

One day, Si Jing overheard a conversation between her mother and great-aunt. "The doctor said that my child will die before she is six," mourned her mother. "Don't be so sad," the older woman replied. "After all, the child is a burden. You'll be free if that happens." Si realized then that she was not like other children: they were a treasure and a joy of their parents, but she was nothing more than a burden and the source of sorrow.

The writing on the walls

Even though Si couldn't walk, she loved shoes and felt embarrassed when others saw her bare feet. But at that time, no one would consider buying shoes for a paralyzed child who did not need them. Then she had an idea: she could make shoes herself. A thoughtful aunt gave her some cloth, and she began to make her first pair of shoes all by herself. She frequently pricked her fingers hard enough to draw blood as she plied her needle, her right hand made awkward by paralysis. But when the work was done, her handmade shoes surprised even her finicky great-aunt. Si quickly gained renown for her excellent needlework and crafts.

But needlework alone could not satisfy Si's eager mind, and she was hurt by the teasing she received for not being able to read. Her great-aunt never read to her the letters from her family, merely announcing that everything was fine. When she was 17, Si Jing made up her mind to learn how to read by herself.

In those days, people often pasted newspapers and posters on their walls. Si would ask the other youngsters who were fond of showing off to read aloud the newspapers on the wall. No matter how long the articles were, she could always remember their contents. Eventually, she learned all the characters.

The neighbors were surprised when they found the sewing girl holding a book in her hands instead of her stitching. When they asked how she had learned to read, she told them that she learned it from the walls.

Trials by surgery

When conflicts arose between her and her great-aunt, Si Jing wrote a letter to her parents and asked them to bring her home.

When her parents took her to a hospital, the doctor admonished her not to be so ambitious, saying that it was amazing the she was even alive. But Si was determined to make the most of her life. She began studying English and drawing, although she had to give them up later because of her health problems. She also started writing, producing several works of fiction including love stories and a film script based on her own experiences.

The long hours spent over her needlework and books, together with her disregard for her own health, resulted in severe curvature of the spine. The condition was so serious that Si's life was in danger. She underwent emergency plastic surgery on her spinal column, a procedure that was extremely dangerous and difficult. A tight brace around her ribs helped to ease her labored breathing.

Another operation in 1987 left Si with two scars. The one on her side was some 40 centimeters long; the other circled her waist from her abdomen to her back. After placing wires to hold a steel rod against her spine, doctors removed a piece of bone from her ribs and used it to graft the rod in place. The operation lasted more than eight hours.

Si was confined to bed for an entire year after the surgery, only to have the spinal curvature recur. The hook on the top of the rod protruded, making it painful either to sit or lie down. In 1991, Si went back into the operating room to have two more steel rods inserted along her spinal column.

Coming through the other side

Si took correspondence courses in psychology from the Chinese Academy of Sciences during her convalescence. Studying psychology was tough for Si, who had never gone to school. But she finally won her diploma, and with outstanding grades. On August 18, 1995, Si Jing established the Fuyuan Psychological Counseling Center. She also published her first book, Angel from Purgatory: Si Jing's Road, and in the following year began traveling around the country giving speeches. To date, she has delivered some 400 talks.

Si and some friends set up a studio in Beijing on May 28, 2002, to study family education. Now they are working around the clock to compile a book entitled Conversation with Life, which is based on Si Jing's experiences as a counselor. She hopes the book will help other people escape the dark shadows of their lives, the way she has escaped from her own.

(China.org.cn by Wu Nanlan, February 20, 2004)