From
China Daily. The Web site has a nice video with Li Yue's story.
When 12-year-old Li Yue sings along to a Chinese pop song, jumping back and forth with her right leg, few people would associate her with the heartbreaking earthquake that sacrificed one of her legs and claimed more than 10 of her family members in southwestern China a year ago.
She is now studying in her fifth year at a Beijing primary school and lives with her divorced mother in a rented apartment 200 meters from her school. They moved to Beijing one month after the earthquake for extended rehabilitation for Li's amputated leg, arranged by the China Disabled Persons' Federation.
Not an average Beijing school child, Li Yue has to strive for her ballet dream with just one leg under public attention as the Paralympic performance she participated in brought her fame, spotlight as well as weariness.
Li has to study harder at school to catch up on lessons she has missed. She is frequently engaged in social activities and media exposure after class, yet still practices dancing everyday and attends rehabilitation training every weekend.
Li Yue became known at home and abroad as the "Ballet Girl" after she performed a "hand ballet" in a wheelchair at the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games last September.
The young amputee, wearing a red ballet shoe on her right foot, took center stage that night. Without impassioned leaps and stunning pirouettes, she moved the audience with her amazing performance and endless ballet dream.
Before the earthquake last May, Li Yue was a promising ballet student who dreamed of becoming a ballerina as she studied at Qushan Primary School of Beichuan county, southwest China's Sichuan province.
But the devastating May 12 earthquake that left over 80,000 people dead or missing destroyed her homeland and her ballet dream. Li Yue had to have her left leg amputated by rescuers in a bid to be removed from the rubble after being trapped for 77 hours under the collapsed school building.
The fragile girl drank almost a bottle of vinegar before the amputation surgery, and survived the agony with bravery and perseverance. She was the only survivor of her class.
Perhaps the agony and pain that Li suffered made her more determined, for she refuses to let go of her ballet dream.
She has made great progress in her studies and in her psychological recovery since she came to Beijing Primary School on February 19, 2009, according to her teacher, Xu Yi.
"It's a big challenge for Li Yue to find herself again in a new environment," said Xu. But Li Yue made it through with her "unremitting effort" and by "studying at home and completing her homework very carefully."
Her relationship with her classmates is another vital thing that has changed her from a formerly depressed new comer into a happy young girl. "We all like her and she is such a nice person," said Zheng Zhuohan, one of Li's friends. "Students in my classroom get along well with her, treating her no differently."
To make Li's move more convenient and school life less troublesome, Zheng, together with other classmates and teachers, even formed a special voluntary team — "Li Yue Assistance Team" — taking turns to push her wheelchair and carry crutches for her.
Fame and media exposure: good or bad?
Li Yue's headline-making performance at the Beijing Paralympic Games may have helped her fulfill her longtime ballet dream, but at the same time, the fame it brought has made her life somewhat difficult, leaving her little privacy and peace.
Her teacher Xu Yi complains that the social outings and media appearances are "cruel" for Li Yue and "not good for her health and ordinary life," because she often misses classes and doesn't have enough time for sleep.
"Too much media exposure and interviews can have negative effects on her psychological recovery," said Xu. "Not only for her, but her classmates and even our school staff are bothered by some of the interviews."
Li Yue's mother, Li Jiaxiu, has also noticed the effects of fame on her little girl.
"Yueyue, the nickname for Li Yue, often gets so tired because of frequent social activities after class and the media exposure," said her mother thoughtfully.
"Last night she went to bed at 12:30 am after we finished an interview, which made her feel sick this morning, and then she couldn't wake up. She told me she felt great pain on the wounds of her amputated leg," Li Jiaxiu said, wiping tears from her eyes.
But Li Yue doesn't seem as unhappy with the media attention as her mother and teacher are. "I am not a star, but an ordinary student. Before the earthquake and the Paralympics, I was simply a child who studied and played everyday. Now there's not much difference, except for the interviews and programs, although I feel a little exhausted sometimes," she admitted.
As a ballet student who had been studying for nearly two years, the earthquake and losing a limb was a devastating blow for Li Yue, but it never ended the pursuit of her ballet dream.
"I have to accept the reality [of losing a leg], for I cannot wake up with my leg back after going to sleep one night," Li smiled, rubbing her crutches. "But I will never give up my dancing dream."
"Dancing encourages me a lot and it gives me strength and bravery when confronted with difficulties, especially during the earthquake," said Li. "It was my dancing dream that kept me going while I waited to be rescued after being trapped under the rubble."
Li Yue returned to her hometown of Beichuan County, the epicenter of the May 12 Sichuan earthquake, on Tomb-Sweeping Day on April 4 this year. She joined close to 90,000 mourners who paid tribute to the victims.
When asked about the official ceremony that day, she spoke of a "weird and scary incident" when a gust of wind whirled away the "ghost money" to the sky, after they burned offerings for the dead.
"It was sunny and breezy at first, but then a heavy wind came in suddenly," Li recalled peacefully. "Mourners standing beside me said the wind was sent to get the 'money' to the victims who we were mourning. I hope they will receive it, as well as our prayers for them."
During her return visit, Li also met with former schoolmates who are now studying at a tent primary school in Mianyang city, Sichuan province. "We recalled the earthquake and the rescue, but none of us cried," Li said. "We do not want to cry, but want to smile, for we are grateful that we survived."
"We truly believe in the saying, 'Good luck will come to those who survive a catastrophe,'" Li said, nodding her head firmly.
Compared with Li Yue's self-poise and calmness toward the earthquake's aftermath, her mother usually seems more worried than relieved.
"Yue Yue is still scared when she is left alone at home and she cannot sleep without a light at night," Li sighed. "So I sleep beside her, with all the lights on every night."
Li Yue is not the only young quake survivor who became famous. Several others have been put in the spotlight for their bravery and calmness, and they too have not lived peacefully since then, encountering many problems.
Lin hao, China's youngest "quake hero," who is remembered as the little boy walking hand-in-hand with basketball idol Yao Ming at the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, is one of those survivor children now facing difficulties.
After six months living in Shanghai, the 10-year-old was brought back to his home province under the pressure of high living costs.
As for Li Yue’s daily living costs, they too are high and may prevent her and her mother from staying in Beijing. "I do not know how long we will stay in the high-cost city of Beijing. But as long as Yue Yue likes to stay here, I will support her and her ballet dream even if I go into debt," said Li Yue's mother.
From China Daily. The Web site has a nice video with Li Yue's story.
