“I don’t have any personal mottos; I just want to help others be happy,” Huang Meihua says simply during our phone interview, and that isn’t what I was expecting from an earthquake survivor who has given several inspirational talks around Beijing. I was prepared for people who give inspirational speeches to espouse strong beliefs in mottos like “Never give up,” and while Meihua might have those beliefs, she doesn’t just pay lip service to them – she lives them.
Meihua is as down-to-earth as they come, despite having lived through the 2008 earthquake that devastated Sichuan and trapped her in the rubble of her school building for six days, causing her to lose both her legs. Amazingly, Meihua says her life as a double amputee isn’t that different from what she imagines her life would have been like had the incident not happened. After all, she’s hit all the typical milestones in life: She continued her schooling here, then studied at a university in Canada, and is currently on a Schwarzman scholarship to pursue her master’s at Tsinghua University here in Beijing – all goals that she had had before her amputation. One thing that has changed for Meihua, though, is “how I used to want to get married early. But now, it just doesn’t feel right. I enjoy my life and want to help others.” She reveals: “I’ve gone on many first dates but never had the second, because the right guy hasn’t come along.”
Another difference might also be that Meihua goes around sharing her struggles and her still-positive outlook on life in talks like this upcoming one at Beijing Family United Hospital on Thu, Jun 13. There, you might hear about her all-too-real anecdotes, such as when she had to be wheeled for 20 minutes to the nearest “wheelchair-accessible” restroom, only to discover that there was a set of stairs right in front of it, or about how complete strangers have stuck their heads into the toilet stall she’s in to check on her to see if she needs help. “They mean well, but it’s this lack of awareness that I am trying to address in China,” shares Meihua.
If you would like to hear more of Meihua’s story in person, scan the QR code in the poster to register for the free talk. Donations to United Foundation for China’s Health are welcome.
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Images: Courtesy of Huang Meihua, BJU
