Have you ever seen a model with a prosthetic leg walking on the runway?
Many parents may have heard of disabled students going to graduate school or even doctorates, or disabled people running marathons, and even leg amputees climbing Mount Everest, but in everyone's impression, walking on the catwalk is a fashion circle that ordinary people rarely touch, let alone the disabled.
So, when Chang Dad first saw this photo, he was surprised at first, but then he was amazed.
The setting of the catwalk looks a bit industrial, and her metal prosthesis appears in this picture, not only not obtrusive, but also adds some futuristic feeling.
I don't know what everyone thinks, but the anti-normal dad only thinks: "Wow, she's so cool!" ”
After learning more about this little sister after 95, Chang Dad couldn't help but tell her parents about her deeds - we should let our children chase such stars!
01 "I was surprised when I received the invitation"
Niu Yu, born in 1997, is 25 years old this year. She loves photography and art, is a short video choreographer, photographer, and a part-time graphic model, with nearly 1 million followers on the short video platform.
As a network expert, Niu Yu was invited to shanghai fashion week to walk the catwalk. In the face of such a good opportunity to publicize himself, Niu Yu's heart was actually worried.
After all, all the models were so confident and beautiful; after all, the catwalk was a presence she had never dared to think of before.
But she still resolutely accepted the invitation, first, because the invitee is a sports brand, and she herself especially likes sports.
The second reason stems from one of her fans - in 2020, Niu Yu received a private message from Weibo, a 19-year-old girl told her that because her right thigh was amputated at the age of 13, her modeling dream was shattered.
Niu Yu felt that it was worth it to be able to bring strength to disabled friends in this way. "I like beautiful clothes, and the absence of one leg doesn't affect my heat of life."
"We're not perfect, but we're still beautiful."
The moment he stepped onto the catwalk, Niu Yu's heart was tense. But an exclamation from an audience member of the audience made her completely relaxed.
The audience member said, "She's so sassy! ”
Niu Yu instantly felt encouraged. In this way, stepping on a "mechanical small steel leg" and another leg with scars, Niu Yu successfully completed her first catwalk in her life. What surprised and surprised her was that the short video of her catwalk exploded, and more and more people began to know that there was a disabled girl named Niu Yu, who stepped on the mechanical small steel leg and walked the catwalk, which was very cool.
02 I not only have to walk the catwalk, but also show off my little steel legs
In fact, before the Shanghai Fashion Week catwalk, a short video of Niu Yu was once on the Internet. In the video, she installed a shining lantern on her "little steel leg" and walked out of the "six relatives do not recognize" step in the night.
Netizens said that the way she walked with light was "extremely dragged".
However, to be able to do so calmly, Niu Yu used it for ten years. Before his 21st birthday, Niu Yu's prosthetic limbs were wrapped in sponges. She said I was used to walking in the crowd hiding myself. Sometimes I walk a little limping, and I think everyone will be staring.
At that time, half of her friends did not know that Niu Yu actually had only one leg. When someone asks, she will say that her leg is injured, and everyone will not think about it anymore.
Puberty is a sensitive time, and every boy and girl is particularly concerned about what others think. Niu Yu is the same, she is very afraid of others to find out about her defects, so she always desperately wants to hide the prosthesis.
Until May 12, 2018, niu yu's 21st birthday, she finally realized her long-held wish:
Take off the sponge wrapped in the prosthesis, step on your "little steel legs", and walk around the crowded street.
Why choose this day?
Because this day is the day of her rebirth.
On May 12, 2008, the Wenchuan earthquake struck, in which Niu Yu lost his right leg and also lost his brother.
Niu Yu, then 11 years old, was crushed by a stone slab under the rubble of the collapsed classroom and buried for 72 hours.
The belief that "I want to live" supported her bitterly, and she persisted for three days and three nights, and finally waited for rescue and miraculously survived.
Niu Yu was once a member of the school track and field team, and the huge gap after losing her right leg also made her complain about the unfairness of fate, "Why me? Why did God punish me like this? ”
She wanted to dance, to ride her bike down the street, but in those days in her hospital bed, the most she thought about was "if one day I can get a good night's sleep, how good it would be."
Because the surgery was followed by surgery, the wound was next to the wound, and it was so painful that she couldn't sleep all night.
But after surviving that time, she felt that she was lucky because she survived compared to those who died in the earthquake.
"It's not easy to survive, you have to live like yourself."
03 Trying to hide, in fact, is not enough to like yourself
Recalling the day when he first exposed his prosthetic leg to go out, Niu Yu said that he was extremely nervous at that time.
Many people looked at her, and she was a little afraid to face the eyes of passers-by, but she still tried to straighten her back and look ahead.
That day, a friend took a picture of her, Niu Yu with fresh mid-length hair, wearing a simple white T-shirt and light-colored plaid pants, with the half-amputated prosthesis of her right leg exposed, smiling brightly at the camera.
In an interview, a reporter asked Niu Yu that revealing her prosthetic leg made her feel nervous and scared, but why did she decide to do so?
She said, I suddenly wanted to accept my true self.
Niu Yu is not the only child who lost his leg in the earthquake. She said that when she was a child, there were many children around her who were like her. In order to comfort their children, many parents will tell them that you should exercise well and your legs will grow again in the future.
But Niu Yu's parents did not tell her such a white lie. Instead, they say, you have to exercise well, otherwise you may be very inconvenient later. Dad also told Niu Yu that if you want to live well, you should not try to think of yourself as a normal person, but try to accept yourself as you are.
The chicken soup was delicious, but that wasn't the truth of life. Niu Yu's parents' words sound cruel at first, but they are a bitter medicine, so that Niu Yu has to face reality and choose to be strong.
And exposing the prosthesis and walking into the crowd is Niu Yu who wants to give himself a 21st birthday gift. That year also coincided with the 10th anniversary of the Wenchuan earthquake. She said, I don't really know why, maybe I really figured it out in that instant, and wanted to do something particularly brave that I didn't dare to do before.
I just want to take a group of photos, and then send this matter to Weibo and WeChat circle of friends to tell people: In fact, I am like this.
She finally understood that everyone actually had something they wanted to hide. Some may be due to physical disabilities, or some may simply be because of their large face and a lot of freckles. When we try to hide our flaws, we don't like ourselves enough and accept ourselves.
04After reconciling with myself, I can do more
At the age of 21, Niu Yu not only accepted her prosthesis, she also did another thing - to participate in the first Wenchuan Half Marathon. And it was the day after her birthday.
For a while, Niu Yu's "phantom limb pain" was severe, and the doctor also told her that her right leg had muscle atrophy. So she began to pay attention to exercise, and also noticed the "Wenchuan Marathon". And she learned from the competition group that many friends who were injured in the earthquake also participated in the competition.
So Niu Yu decided to wear a prosthetic limb to compete, instead of choosing a wheelchair like many disabled people.
She said the marathon had a special meaning for her because it was to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Wenchuan earthquake. Moreover, she also wanted to challenge herself to see how far she could go. In the end, Niu Yu persevered for 3 hours and 53 minutes and completed the 21.0975 km marathon.
She said that I felt that my presence could bring strength to everyone.
This year, because she was known as "China's most beautiful marathon girl", Niu Yu was known to people. But in fact, she also participated in the 2019 and 2020 Wenchuan Marathon.
The reason why she persisted for three years was because fans said in her private message, "Every time you stand has meaning." ”
If in the beginning, she tried to live a better life; now, she is trying to illuminate more people. As Niu Yu himself said, "What I really care about is what I should do for the vulnerable as a member of the vulnerable group." ”
In a short video she posted last year, she shared with fans some scenes from her work as a photographer, teasing that her prosthetic leg with a colored light could replace a lighting engineer.
Received countless encouragement and affirmations. What impresses people is not only her high spirit, but also her professional technical level.
After walking off the catwalk, she did more: she participated in variety shows and made blockbusters for fashion magazines.
This girl, and the disabled community she represents, is beginning to be seen and understood by more and more people.
Isn't everything cool?
Although being a photographer and being a short video blogger may be a bit "not doing business" in the eyes of some conservative parents. But Niu Yu himself is also a graduate of the Tianfu College of southwestern university of finance and economics, specializing in accounting and auditing.
And what career will she pursue in the future? That's hard to say. Her identity is diverse, her choices are diverse, just like her life, vast and unrestricted, full of all possibilities.
The reason why I want to tell the story of this girl to everyone is that Chang Dad was moved by this girl's positive and sunny attitude towards life.
In this world, very few people can be born with easy mode, and most people will be accompanied by frustration and pain. But obviously, Niu Yu's life, from the day of the Wenchuan earthquake, has entered the Hard mode that is enough to destroy many people, and she has refined her tenacious character in the furnace of suffering with extraordinary willpower, lived vigorously and sparklingly, and infected more people with her enthusiasm, which is really worth learning from us and our children.
She told us that the important thing in life is not whether there is a good hand, but that no matter what card is in hand, we must try to play it well. Isn't that what education does? Let our children draw strength from positive energy role models like Niu Yu, which is much more vivid and useful than the preaching of parents.