Riding an electric wheelchair with Chengcheng who can't exercise

Riding an electric wheelchair with Shing Shing, who can't exercise [Source: Law Siu, Xu Yaobin]

One of the trending stories in the wheelchair community this year was about a wheelchair user miraculously standing up after getting off a bus, which led to netizens mocking and questioning him for defrauding disability transportation allowances. But if you have a friend like Fan Shing Wing, you'll understand that you don't necessarily have to be completely unable to walk to use a wheelchair, just as you don't have to be pregnant or have white hair to need a priority seat. Menstruation can be so painful that one's face turns pale, and in such cases, one simply cannot stand.

In his life, he sometimes stands up miraculously, as seen in this video:

Shing Shing needs to "get moving," which is why he uses an electric wheelchair and occasionally ventures out of Tin Shui Wai. He was born with congenital heart disease and has faced death multiple times before even knowing what the word "death" meant. He's undergone no less than ten surgeries since the age of two. Now, at 22, this article serves as his belated birthday gift. He used to play basketball, but now, even a half-day outing requires oxygen. His legs are literally swollen like pig trotters, and he sways when he walks.

Giddens Ko said, "Life is a battle." For Shing Shing, every day is a battle. A persistent fever could lead to hospitalization, and while a heart transplant is an option, how many hearts are available for transplant?

I asked Shing Shing, "Have you looked into the average life expectancy for congenital heart disease?"

He replied, "No, everyone is the same. No one knows what tomorrow holds."

If you have healthy limbs today, you should cherish the heavy breathing from exercise, because every breath is a life.

He can't travel far, but he wants to go further. He has a segment called "Shing's Conversations" on Thunder 881's "Big Play Party," where he talks about how a young person with a chronic illness bravely survives. Although he can't go to school or work, he is full of passion for life. He sits in his wheelchair, breathing oxygen, to watch Dayo Wong's shows. He can't fly, but he wants to overcome all difficulties to return to his hometown in Vietnam (he grew up in a refugee camp). He wants to be a YouTuber, so he seeks out electric wheelchair companies for collaboration opportunities. This kind of media-savvy mindset is something many people never learn in a lifetime.

Shing Shing's Facebook: Fan Shing Wing Phan Thanh Vinh Journey of Light

Shing Shing test drives an electric wheelchair at Ho Ho Medical Supplies

It's precisely because there are no opportunities that we must create them, and because something seems impossible, we must make it possible.

A colleague introduced me to electric wheelchairs. Sometimes, young people involved in accidents can never walk again, and we hope a vehicle can help them. I once accompanied Shing Shing in an electric wheelchair to a crowded book fair. Even though I wasn't the one sitting, I felt everyone's gaze on us. Is the pressure from limited mobility greater, or the pressure from everyone's stares? Simple things like taking the MTR: we have to wait until we get to the correct station and for staff to be ready before we can board, and other people won't let us go first; we even have to help push the ramp.

I'm not trying to talk about the quality of Hong Kong people; I want to talk about the immense courage and patience a wheelchair user needs to go out. As a result, Shing Shing left the exhibition center at 5 PM and didn't get home until 9 PM. Without a wheelchair, a taxi ride costs $500 an hour round trip, but then the wheelchair is useless. Using a wheelchair takes three times as long. This is the reality of life for a wheelchair user living in Tin Shui Wai.

$500 VS 5 hours

The reality in Hong Kong is that even those with healthy limbs struggle to live well, and those with disabilities are even more left to fend for themselves. I understand. The Gospel of John tells a similar story: Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there was a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda, with five colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

Even if there were a healing pool, seriously ill people couldn't reach it. It's like an emergency room, where a large group of people with colds and flu have already rushed in, just like the scene at swimming pools in mainland China, where people are stacked on top of each other and floats collide.

I feel like I've complained a lot, but nothing beats seeing Shing Shing enjoy playing with his electric wheelchair.

Some say, "It's better to act than to just think about it." I say, thinking about it is even better than acting.

Because there are people who, even if they can't walk, must move forward.

NO REGRETS
NO RETREATS
NO RESERVES

Fan Shing Wing Phan Thanh Vinh Journey of Light Facebook Page