Wang Yu: Standing Tall

CBN.com In many ways 25-year-old Wang Yu is a giant among men. In fact, he has faced challenges that most of us will never face in a lifetime.

In 1999, at the age of 18, Wang Yu of Beijing faced the greatest crisis of his life. Doctors were forced to amputate his legs, his left arm, and part of his right hand. Wang Yu suffered from vasculitis, an inflammation of the blood vessels. Doctors told him that without the operation, he would die.

"After the operation, my life was totally different," Wang Yu tells CBN. "I needed to learn how to eat. I needed to learn how to wash my face and brush my teeth with one hand. I needed to learn how to manage my life, how to take care of myself."

Like any of us might feel in this situation, Wang Yu had his moments of desperation. But in the end, his parents' love and sacrifice helped him to turn the corner.

"So I said to myself, I will not die. It would be very selfish for me to die. For my parents' sake I will live."

One day while lying in his bed, Wang Yu saw a television program that gave him an idea.

"I saw a story about a hospital in Beijing where they make artificial legs using alloy metal," he recalls. "I was so excited that I started to think about making my own artificial legs using steel pipe. But I didn't have enough money to buy pipe, so I decided to make them out of wood."

And they worked. Soon, Wang Yu was getting around better than ever. He then decided it was time to find work. At first, some suggested that he should beg -- "Very easy money," they said. But Wang Yu wanted none of it. More than anything, he wanted to find a job to support himself. That's when he came up with the idea for a taxi and delivery service.

"My taxi service earned me $50 a month. The second month I made $60. I was able to start paying my own rent," Wang Yu proudly notes.

But Wang Yu knew he wanted to continue to better himself. Only one problem stood in his way.

"If I had legs, I would be able to pursue better employment. You see I have dreams. I believe in myself, in my abilities. I know I can succeed doing a professional job," he says.

CBN Worldreach was about to step in and help. One day CBN's medical director in China, Dr. Liu, read an article about Wang Yu in the paper and decided to give him a call.

"When Dr. Liu called me and told me that she was going to help me get prosthetic legs, I thought I was dreaming! Wang Yu explains. "The possibility of getting prosthetics was impossible because the cost was so high."

But Dr. Liu did what was needed and helped Wang Yu get his new legs. Of course, learning to walk again was difficult, but Wang Yu was up for the challenge.

Even as Wang Yu learns to walk again, he is continuing to pursue his goal of better employment by going back to school. He now attends computer classes at night, hoping one day soon to become a professional in computer design. And in those quiet moments when he thinks about his life and his family, he remembers the last words his mother spoke to him.

"When I first left home," he says, "my mom said to me, 'Don't forget to pray daily, to learn to draw near to God. Then you will experience more of His grace. This will give you more strength than anything else.' I didn't ask God directly for prosthetic legs; I just prayed, 'Lord Jesus, let me be able to live independently. Let me be able to stand up again.' "

Thanks to CBN partners, that is the gift that God has given to this bright, young man who is standing tall today.

"I'm actually not very good at speakingI just want to say thank you," says Wang Yu. "I especially want to say that I am thankful that God, through CBN and through Christians, my good brothers and sisters, has helped me up and helped me to live independently."

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