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Disabled surgeon gives hope to others

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Mainland orthopaedic surgeon Zhang Xu is tireless in his efforts to help the disabled, having just completed a rehabilitation course at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and a counselling course at the University of Hong Kong.

The 40-year-old from Anshan City in Liaoning province is also studying at a vocational rehabilitation training centre where he is learning how to train disabled people to work.

What makes it remarkable is that Dr Zhang is a paraplegic. He has been confined to a wheelchair since breaking his neck in a diving accident in Yemen six years ago.

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An avid swimmer, he was delighted when he found a waterfall with a natural pool at a local sight-seeing spot. After being told by locals that the pool was deep enough for swimming, he dived in.

'My head hit a rock and immediately I lost the ability to move or feel. Being an orthopaedic surgeon, I realised at once that I had broken my neck,' he recalls.

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Dr Zhang was sure he would die and mentally said goodbye to his loved ones.

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