Girl fulfills embroidery dream despite paralysis

Dong Jingyi, 24, has suffered from neurological myelitis for the past 7 years. She cannot stand up because she is paralyzed below her thoracic vertebra.

At first, Dong couldn't help crying, and even thought about committing suicide. Her parents also went through a period of enormous grief.

However, Dong soon found hope. She met an embroidery teacher Qiao Xinmin by chance. With her help, Dong started embroidering. The work makes her hands more flexible and her mind more optimistic. After much pain and hardship, she can now embroider delicate pictures.

Though no obvious cure for her condition is available, she keeps encouraging her parents, "The greatest happiness is for the family to be together". "Embroidery can prevent my muscles from atrophy. I will persist in embroidering and treating. It brings me hope," she said with a smile.

Unable to move her legs, Dong Jingyi has to brush her teeth in bed everyday at her home in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning province. [Photo/Xinhua]