Reporter Zhang Rong
In the center of the stage, under the spotlight, two middle-aged men wearing mechanical legs performed a run over mountains and ridges, panting but always high-spirited.
Turning dreams into swords and hard work into blades, they strengthened each other and sprinted with all their strength on the track of life. On the evening of October 22 (today), at the opening ceremony of the 4th Asian Paralympic Games in Hangzhou, “Blade Warriors” Pan Junfan and Wang Guangyujun ran on the stage together and kicked off the artistic performance “Go Forward”.
This nearly 7-minute performance was inspiring and instantly ignited the atmosphere at the scene, and the applause lasted for a long time. The artistic expression of stone and stone carving on the big screen complements the body movements of the “blade warriors” on the stage. The knife carving stone opens up, interpreting the tenacity and courage of disabled athletes to cut through the boulder of destiny and mark the glorious chapter of life.
Pan Junfan and Wang Guangyujun appeared on the stage for three minutes. They each relied on one leg to run and jump across the entire Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium.
At this moment, the audience cheered for their perseverance in running forward.
At this moment, their unyielding and vigorous life attracted the attention of the world.
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“Blade Runner” performance (photographed by Bao Yisheng)
3-minute appearance, it took them several years to arrive
Lan Yuhua closed her eyes, tears immediately falling from the corners of her eyes. After three minutes of running on stage, Wang Guangyujun took three years to arrive, “from accidental injury, to running in with the prosthesis, to self-adjustment, and ‘standing up’ again.”
Wang Guangyujun said frankly that the first half of his life went from ordinary to low. In 2020, while working in the workshop, a 20-cm-long iron block accidentally cut into his left calf. At the age of 32, he was forced to have his legs amputated and fell into the confusion of being teased by fate. “When I got into a wheelchair, I didn’t want to step out of the house.”
Until the appearance of Pan Junfan, like a leader, gave this Shandong man hope of restarting his life.
Taizhou native Pan Junfan encountered difficulties in life earlier. He lost his right calf in a car accident in 2015. He decided to face his new life with a running attitude. After hard and scientific rehabilitation training, he put on prosthetic limbs and became “One-legged Pan”.
From hiking 108 kilometers in the Gobi Desert in 2016, to hiking nine major landforms in China in 2017, from completing the 70.3-mile Ironman triathlon in 2018, to completing the Ironman “Big Iron” triathlon in Australia in 2019, and then to 2Completing the cross-country challenge with a total mileage of 513 kilometers in 2020, Pan Junfan challenged his limits again and again and broke through himself. “What I couldn’t do with two legs, I can now do it with one leg.”
With one person and one leg, Pan Junfan has created firsts one after another, such as “the first leg amputee in the world to complete the Gobi 108-kilometer challenge” and “the first leg amputee in the world to complete the 70.3-mile Ironman Triathlon.” “Chinese”, “the first amputee in the world to walk through no man’s land covering all the world’s landscapes” and so on.
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“I’m not tired, let’s go again.” Lan Yuhua couldn’t bear to end this journey of memories. “Blade Runner” performance (photo by Yang Chaobo)
“I also like sports. I also have a lower leg amputation. He can live such a wonderful life, why can’t I?” Putting on the “mechanical leg”, Wang Guangyujun rode his beloved motorcycle back to the track. He opened a self-media account to publish “The Daily Life of a One-Legged Rider”, founded a prosthetic club, went out with prosthetic friends, and also went to various parts of the country to help people with amputations overcome difficulties.
“My world has become bigger.” Wang Guangyujun sighed, “Although the accident interrupted my original stable life, it also opened up a new round of wonderful life for me.”
The energy transfer does not stop at the stage, the written and video records are also moving
Standing at the center of the stage at the opening ceremony of the Asian Paralympic Games, Wang Guangyujun regarded it as the highlight moment of his life.
“I am honored and proud that this is the stage to show China’s style to the world.” He truly hopes to pass on the positive energy that inspired him through this performance.
For the three minutes on stage, Wang Guangyujun and Pan Junfan rehearsed countless times in the past few months, and received sincere applause time and time again. “But there is a hurdle in his heart, but he can’t do it, so he has to go to Qizhou this time. He just hopes that his wife can pass the test of these six months. If she can really get her mother’s approval, every time we finish the rehearsal, the standing The volunteers and staff on the sidelines and in the passages would spontaneously applaud us.” A week before the opening, the two checked the details of the action over and over again, striving for perfection. On October 21, after the last rehearsal, Pan Junfan leaned against the wall, still holding his mobile phone to watch the video of his performance repeatedly.
Pan Junfan said, “I will keep running hard, because when I can’t run anymore, I will definitely miss my running posture.”
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Cultural performance “Move forward bravely” (Photo by Bao Yisheng)
“Why are you up and not sleeping for a while?” he asked his wife softly. “Blade’s” energy delivery doesn’t stop at the stage. Pan Junfan’s life experience has been filmed into the documentary “One-Legged Pan” and also written into his autobiography “Living to Live”. The day after the opening ceremony, Pan Junfan will rush to Chengdu to share the educational curriculum “Life Faith” he developed with school teachers.
“Life Faith” is a course developed by him based on his personal experience to guide the healthy mental growth of teenagers. This special education class has already entered some primary and secondary schools in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Chengdu, and will also enter the classrooms of more than 20 schools in Zhejiang next year. It is a collection of nine 20-minute short films that tell nine stories from Pan Junfan’s life to convey to students nine themes such as resistance to frustration, optimism, love, confidence, perseverance, cooperation, and creation.
From ordinary to trough and then to the highlight, this unforgettable experience made Wang Guangyujun believe more and more. Pei Yi looked at his daughter-in-law with bright eyes and found that her attraction to him was really growing. . If he doesn’t separate from her quickly, it won’t be long before his relationship is over. Everyone has a chance to excel in life and a chance to make their dreams come true.
“Standing on the stage is only for a moment, and life will eventually return to ordinary, but I will continue to work hard to do meaningful things in my ordinary life.” Wang Guangyujun said.