In 2015, a video was widely circulated online.
The content of the video record corresponds to the controversy of the accidental injury of the "vaulting champion" Sunland 17 years ago, pointing out that she fabricated cause and effect out of thin air and deceived the public.
People were in an uproar, and the litigation storm that had subsided two years ago was making waves again, what was the hidden plot behind this?
Gymnastics rising star, heavy falls
Speaking of Sunland, I believe that many people are not strangers.
Born in 1981 in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, she studied gymnastics since she was a child, and at the age of ten, she won the title of "all-around champion" at the 9th Zhejiang Provincial Games, and since then she has opened her way to a new star, winning medals in major gymnastics competitions repeatedly.
In 1993, Sunland successfully entered the national gymnastics team and gradually emerged in international competitions - the seventh place in the all-around of the "American Cup", the second place in the individual vault in the "China, the United States and Romania Trilateral Team Competition"...
Since the ancient hero came out of the youth, Sunland, a rising star, has won glory for the country since childhood, and has won widespread attention from the sports circles at home and abroad.
In July 1998, the Fourth Friendship Games in New York was held as scheduled, and 17-year-old Sunland represented China to participate in the competition, and many Chinese people had high hopes for her.
On July 21, during a daily pre-match warm-up, Sunland accidentally fell from the air and crashed head-down into the ground, causing an accidental serious injury.
But the competition is imminent, this opportunity is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as long as she is in the top three, she is expected to participate in the next year's World Championships.
Before being pushed into the ambulance, Sunland and the coach said to treat the wound briefly and then receive treatment after the game.
But the actual situation was far worse than she expected, and the coach held her head and said in a very choked tone: "Sunland is good." ”
After arriving at the hospital, Sunland was diagnosed with unusually serious injuries — open, comminuted fractures of the fifth to seventh cervical vertebrae, severe damage to the central nervous system, and loss of consciousness in both hands and below the chest.
This means that she will spend her life in a wheelchair for the rest of her life, and the chances of re-standing are slim.
After learning that her daughter was paraplegic, Sunland's mother fainted on the spot, and her daughter, who was in the flower season, suddenly suffered this disaster, how could a mother accept such a cruel fact?
The news soon came out, setting off a great wave of shock in the outside world, and compatriots at home prayed for her blessings, and even the then US President Clinton sent condolences.
Get on the right track, but uncover the old scars
After spending nearly a year in the United States, Sunland returned home.
For a dark horse at the peak of his gymnastics career, suffering such misfortune is tantamount to disaster. But Sunland did not allow herself to fall in the face of fate's teasing.
In her opinion, God closes a door for you and always opens a window. Since you can no longer practice gymnastics, try to make a difference in other areas.
In 2001, Sunland made a decision to go to university.
The idea was initially not supported by parents, who feared that their daughter's physical condition would not fit into normal college life.
Sunland, who has been self-reliant and independent since childhood, has made up his mind to rely on the power of knowledge to make himself more effective.
A year later, she finally entered the School of Journalism and Communication at Peking University and successfully completed all her studies in five years.
In September 2002, Sunland officially joined Star TV and hosted the Olympic special program "Sunland 2008", which received a lot of attention.
Since then, she has focused her main energy on public welfare undertakings and program hosting, not only serving as the public welfare image ambassador of the All China Sports Foundation, but also initiating the establishment of the "Olympic Star Guarantee Fund", which is praised by people as a "smiling angel" with disabilities.
And just when everything is moving in a good direction, 13 years later, Sunland suddenly filed a lawsuit to put the incident of his injury and disability in 1998 in front of the public again...
On April 28, 2013, Sunland's lawyers in the United States filed a complaint with the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York, suing five institutions and three individuals, including Time Warner Corporation and the American Gymnastics Association, with a claim amount of up to 1.8 billion yuan, including her guardians in the United States at that time, Liu Guosheng and Xie Xiaohong.
In the 26-page English indictment, Sunland pointed out that she was injured because someone moved the mat underneath when she landed, causing her to lose control and cause her to be disabled.
Liu Guosheng and Xie Xiaohong, who were involved in the Chinese sports lottery business, were the business partners of the Gymnastics Association at that time, and they were forcibly designated by the Gymnastics Association as Sunland's guardians without performing any legal procedures, and prevented Sunland from telling the truth in a threatening manner.
In addition, another defendant, the former vice chairman of Time Warner, had made a promise to be responsible for Sunland's lifetime living expenses and medical expenses before the Chinese leaders at the time, but did not truthfully fulfill the promise.
The organizers of the tournament invested in commercial insurance, and Sunland could clearly get $10 million in compensation, but was refused to pay because he was not in the United States.
"I was a minor at the time, and I and my parents were unaware of the aftermath of some specific situations and events, which led to my failure to obtain the truth or to know that I could appeal to an agency or institutions at that time."
Sunland believes that he was on the passive side at the time and did not know much about the relevant insurance regulations in the United States, so he did not take legal rights protection measures to protect himself in time after the incident, and missed the best time to pursue justice.
Although Sunland's side preemptively listed 18 words of accusations, the words of public opinion such as "moral corruption", "selling misery", and "white-eyed wolf" were still on her head.
Some people say that she is ungrateful, after all, the guardian couple had taken care of her for nearly a year, and now suddenly turned their faces, which is really detrimental to the bottom line of morality and morality; some people think that after she became red, she ignored it and did not hesitate to hype up the old things of many years ago to brainlessly circle money.
Just over a month after this "war of words" broke out, Sunland's husband and agent suddenly posted on Weibo on May 4, saying that Xue Weisen, son of Sunland's guardian in the United States, had bathed Sunland, implying that 17-year-old Sunland had been molested.
The news once again stirred up a wave of public opinion, and Sunland's lawyer, Haiming, said that misconduct against people with disabilities in the United States is particularly unacceptable by law, because people with disabilities have little ability to resist.
Caught in the whirlpool of public opinion, the negotiation was awarded $10 million in compensation
The tragedy of 13 years of dust was revived, and public opinion spread from the print media to the Internet with a storm, and this transnational litigation case brought great pressure to the Sunland family.
In 2013, Sunland happened to be pregnant, and she quickly felt overwhelmed by the constant running for the details of the case, not only to pay attention to the other party's every move in time, but also to face the bombardment of public opinion in various media.
"The birth of my child was the end of my suffering." In April 2014, Sunland gave birth to her son by caesarean section, and her physical condition was much weaker than that of ordinary women, which also made her realize that the case could not continue like this.
"The reason why our case was withdrawn is because of the inspiration brought to me by my children." Sunland believes that the inside story of this case is too complicated, even involving two countries, and he is just an ordinary person, and his health and family are more important than personal rights.
The child is the best gift given to her by Heaven, and for the sake of the child, she and her husband are willing to give up everything, leave the whirlpool of public opinion, and start a new life.
As a result, Sunland and lawyer Heming held a press conference to announce that a settlement had been reached with the defendant and to withdraw the lawsuit after receiving $10 million in damages.
Since then, Sunland has focused on her family, often doing some public welfare activities, and the coverage of her has gradually decreased.
However, things did not go as she expected.
On November 26, 2015, Xinhua Published an article titled "The Allegation of "Removing the Mat" Is Unfounded - The True Investigation of Sunland's Fall Injury", saying that Sunland's injury had nothing to do with the mat and was caused by his own mistakes, pointing out that Sunland had lied about the truth about his injury for 17 years.
At the same time, a video uploaded by an American netizen was also wildly reprinted.
This video shows that Sunland's foot was in the wrong position at the time, and it was this short 20 cm misalignment that caused her mistake, and no one stepped forward to remove the mat, and all the problems were caused by her personally.
Soon, public opinion was completely reversed, and many people who originally supported Sunland's rights defense also began to criticize what she had done, and for a time the doubts and insults of the sky returned.
Under the pressure of many parties, Sunland responded through a long article on Weibo: "Speaking of the case, it is not so simple, my case has a lot of internal information, involving not only my personal rights, as well as my personal rights and interests, perhaps history will eventually be declassified." ”
Let go of the past and stay away from public opinion
Whether it was deliberately concealed or slandered, the truth of the matter is still a mystery.
There are many netizens who are curious about the truth to comment and private messages on Sunland's private Weibo, but they have never received a positive reply from Sunland, and most of her Weibo is to record ordinary moments of life.
"Some media still think that I lost the case to this day, but in fact, this case has long been closed, and the only thing that has not ended is the public opinion court."
In the face of the netizens' unrelenting pursuit, Sunland feels helpless, the matter has passed for a long time, but she still can't completely get rid of the whirlpool of public opinion.
On September 17, 2018, she posted a short video in which her husband Huang Jian ran happily in the yard holding a branch that had been blown down by the typhoon, and she was amused in a wheelchair.
The Weibo copywriter reads: "My husband was blown 'crazy' by 'mangkhut' this time, I laughed for half an hour, the laugh point is so low, I am also drunk." Fortunately, my son didn't see this scene, and if he saw it, he would definitely say it was a monster! ”
The tone is light and witty, and it is difficult to hide the joy.
However, the opinions of some netizens in the comment area were unexpected - "Many places are seriously affected, this video is really not funny", "Do you think 'Mangkhut' is fun"... Similar satire was echoed by many.
A trivial daily incident caused "public anger", and Sunland replied that he was very tired: "I am just an ordinary woman, and anything in the field of public opinion has nothing to do with me." You're right, and that's true, but I'm not a public figure, thank you for the reminder. ”
In today's information age of networked popularization, "network violence" has become an invisible infectious disease.
Without a blade, but can kill people, before the truth of the Sunland incident has been openly and honestly revealed, any malicious speculation and public opinion attack on the parties involved are meaningless.
From a gymnastics rising star to an Olympic bid ambassador to a reporter on the official website of the Olympic Games, although Sunland is disabled, he has never bowed to life and has paid extraordinary efforts and sweat along the way. Such a girl with an iron will deserves the most basic respect.
On September 27, 2018, Sunland posted his last long article on Sina Weibo: "In 1998, I was injured on Long Island, New York, USA, and this year it has been exactly twenty years, everything has passed, twenty years of peaks and turns, willows and flowers, I rearrange my bags and prepare to go." ”
She said that she thought about it for a long time and finally decided to leave Sina Weibo and once again leave public opinion far behind.
Today's Sunland rarely appears, about her current situation can only be seen in today's headlines and douyin platform, the updated content is still some warm daily fragments of family life - "Chef Huang recently made several char siu pork, especially delicious", "XiaoBao is now in the second grade, homework is my eyes"...
"Sunland is ready for a new life path, I am not only a mother, but also a disabled person, but my life will not be crippled!"
Twenty-four years have passed, and the Sunland that was fully consumed by the media has slowly faded out of people's vision, avoiding the old scars that have been sealed for many years, and re-planning the second half of his life.