Disabled farmer herds cattle on hands and one leg, yet out-earns fellow villagers
Hard work, rather than waiting for state handouts, is the secret for 47-year-old as he crawls around the mountains
A disabled man’s gritty self-reliance in raising cows for a living in southwestern China has won admiration and made him a role model in his village.
Wang Zhaoquan has been raising cows over the past seven years, making his way over mountains and rivers daily using his hands and one foot, Chinese photo news site One Day, One News reported on Sunday.
Last year he earned 20,000 yuan (US$3,170) from selling the livestock, much more than most of his fellow villagers in Yinjiang Miao and Tu Ethnic Autonomous County in Guizhou province, according to the report.
The 47-year-old farmer cannot walk because he lost the use of his left foot after contracting polio at the age of six.
Every morning, he crawls to herd cows using his hands and right foot. When climbing on the mountain, he holds a piece of curved wood that he made, and a piece of rubber pad to protect his hands and speed up his movement.