Richard Zhang (Zhang Heng)

Location: Shanghai

Challenge: Ectrodactyly

 

TThough challenged with ectrodactyly, Zhang Heng is a little star among his music community. He is an amateur singer and piano player of the Art Troupe of Shanghai Minhang District Disabled Association.

As a music lover, he was taught to play the piano at the age of 4, though he has no five fingers like normal people.

As a warm-hearted Social Work Organizer, he tried his best to strengthen all kinds of resources to help those who are with worse physical conditions.

He also likes guitars and drums. It is difficult for him to click the guitar strings and to hold the sticks of drums. Nevertheless, he still persisted in practicing.

Here is the story of Zhang Heng, a small man always with big, optimistic smiles.

On February 27, 1980, a new baby previously named Zhang Heng came into the world at Shanghai No.6 hospital. Unlike any family that welcomed a newborn with happiness and eagerness, the little Zhang's parents faced great shock, worries, and even deep fear for his future fate.

This is an abnormal baby, a baby born with strange hands and feet. The 2 small hands, without 5 clearly distinct fingers, nor a palm, each of them has only 2 fingers. The 2 small feet are also without soles, with the only two big fingers curved upside down like claws of a lobster. How terrible it is! At first sight of this small monster-like baby, the poor mother fainted. When she recovered, she cried so hard. What happened to my poor baby? How will he survive in the future? The poor mother fell into deep sadness.

God gave Zhangheng a different life. However, he lived a distinctive life. With his strong will, he always smiles at all the difficulties he has encountered. Although he lacks digits, he makes up for it with love and kindness! Going through various forms of bullying at school, humiliations in society, and prejudices at work, he not only created happiness for himself and his family, but also brought happiness and hope for people who are challenged with more serious conditions.

What Zhang Heng had was a disease called ectrodactyly, which is caused by genetic reasons. Zhang belongs to one of the serious types. Though there is some flexibility with his hands, his feet are rather serious. He has to walk on his shin because he has no soles on his feet. This will cause serious harm after a long walk. What is worse, this psychological hurt will be with him for a lifetime.

Though having gone through various insults, bullying, and difficulties in his growing up, Zhang Heng is always strong. What is surprising is that he has the power to accept all prejudices and unfairness, which, for him, are only ways to hone himself. He says, "I don't care how others look at me. It is normal that I am a little different from others". He adds, "The most important thing is, I can do what others can do, I am the same as them as a human!" "What exists is reasonable". Though Zhang Heng is not a lover of books, he often speaks out famous sentences spontaneously.

The spirit of "I can do it" and "never give up" is reflected in Zhang Heng's upbringing. To learn to play the piano, he wore out his small fingers; To attend a long-distance interview, he rode a bicycle for 5 hours until the seat became worn.

To well-grasped computer skills, he insisted on self-study with persistent efforts. He is a good graphic designer and a hardware engineer. He knows all the new trends in the computer field; He was one of the earliest in China to come into contact with the internet and one of the earliest who did E-commerce business on eBay and Amazon.

In consideration of his own suffering from the real world, Zhang Heng pays special sympathy to those who are weakest in society. In his own neighborhood, he organized a small Helping Others club to help those seriously handicapped people. At festivals, Zhang will organize parties and attract donations for them.

He spared his free time to teach the elderly people in his neighborhood to learn to operate a computer for free. Many elders colored their retirement through Zhang's teaching.

He also set up a network with other handicapped people in other cities such as Wuhan, Shenyang, and Chongqing. Through his small e-commerce business, Zhang created many job opportunities for these people and added a bright color to their lives.