Beating the odds

Shortly after Peng began to walk, the car accident took away his legs in 2005. That started an odyssey for the then 19-month-old, who began his life in a wheelchair, after surgery.

But things didn't turn better. Skin necrosis occurred at his stumps and he had to receive grafting. His situation got worse during his primary school period when his bones entered a spurt period. He had to receive surgery again, which led to his residual limbs being too short for prosthetics.

Since kindergarten, Peng started to walk with his arms. At first, his arms were not strong enough to hold his body up and he had to climb on the ground, according to his mother.

"When he first practiced walking on hands, it was a common scene for him to fall to the ground. Every year in the first several years, he wore out six pairs of gloves and dozens of trousers on average," Wang says, adding that, after years of exercise, Peng could "walk" into classroom on his own.

In the second year at the Nanya Middle School in Changsha, Peng's classroom was on the fifth floor, which meant 88 stairs in one single trip. Every day, Peng had to get up and down at least four times. When his classmates wanted to help him, Peng would say no.

"I don't need special care. All I want is to be treated as an ordinary man," Peng says.

In his classmates' eyes, Peng is a man with a strong personality. They don't focus on his physical challenges. Instead, they marvel at his competency.

Wang Zhe told local newspaper Xiaoxiang Morning Herald that he was impressed by Peng when he found he could climb faster with his hands than most classmates during a mountain-climbing event in the first year of senior middle school.

In his teacher Zhou Qiming's eyes, Peng is a diligent and self-disciplined student.

"I have never worried about his scores. What's more, he is quite optimistic and always ready to help others," Zhou says.

Besides being a good student, Peng is good at sports. Learning to swim in the first year in primary school, it has been a routine for him to swim about 2,000 meters every week. It usually takes him less than 50 minutes, which can be challenging for healthy people.

"Because of the lack of legs, keeping balance in water is difficult for Peng. He has spent longer than others to get up to the speed he can achieve today," Leng Jing, his swimming coach, says.