Paralyzed man builds a new life running online shop

Xu Yanhua's mother trims his nails at their home in Kecheng district, Quzhou city in East China's Zhejiang province on June 24, 2015.[Photo/CFP]

Plumber and electrician Xu Yanhua, 32, has built a new life for himself by running an online shop with a touch pen and his teeth after he was seriously paralyzed in an accident six years ago in Keqiao district, Quzhou city in East China's Zhejiang province.

Xu fell down from a high place during the accident and found later he couldn't move his body below the neck. After finding out he was paralyzed, Xu initially gave up on his life by starving himself to death.  

However, the miserable young man found a new lease on life after seeing others playing with touch-screen phones. With the help of his family and other relatives, he got a holder where he could put his touch-screen computer.

From then on, he logged on to Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like social network, and felt that "I can get some new friends here and have a rich life by knowing the outside world without going out."

Thanks to Sina Weibo, the road in front of Xu's home got repaired, because he told his hope of repairing the road to Zhu Xiaonong, the Secretary of Keqiao district. 

Besides, he opened an online shop on April 19, 2015. Though he had to use his teeth to carry a touch pen to run his online shop, he could earn some money for his family, especially given that his father died in a traffic accident 9 years ago.

Xu said, "One should have his own dream as long as he lives in the world. My biggest dream is to find value in my life. I would like to do my best to share my family's burden."