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Engineer builds a new life

工程师开创新生活

Overcoming accident that cost him his leg, Liang Kaiyu has developed a customized artificial limb.

一次意外导致梁开宇的左腿不幸被截肢，但他不仅克服了身体上的困难，还自己改造了假肢。

For engineer Liang Kaiyu, one thing is clear: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Losing his left leg above the knee in an explosion when testing his self-built automatic electronic motor in January 2020, the 30-year-old used his engineering skills to make his prosthetic limb more comfortable and powerful than a real leg.

对本是工程师的梁开宇来说，有一点非常明确：杀不死你的，会让你更强大。2020年1月，30岁的他在测试自制的“不倒翁”自平衡电动车时，因一次意外爆炸导致左腿膝盖以下全部炸毁。他利用自己的工程师技能改造升级了假肢，并使其比真腿更舒适、有力。

prosthetic limb: n. 假肢

"Getting over the darkest moment in my life, my artificial limb is now a part of me, which makes me stand out from other people," says Liang from Liangshan county, Jining city, Shandong province.

家住山东济宁梁山县的梁开宇说：“我已经度过了人生最黑暗的时刻，现如今假肢已经成为了我身体的一部分。”

He has become an overnight internet sensation on short-video streaming platforms for sharing his designs and upgrades on his high-tech prosthetic leg to make it close to, or even better than, a real one. 

他在各大视频媒体平台上分享自己设计、升级高科技假肢使其接近甚至优于真腿的视频，这令他一夜成名。

After his optimism and courage made national headlines, Liang has gone viral on social media. On micro-blogging platform Sina Weibo, his story garnered more than 21 million views so far. Many users refer to him by the nickname "Iron Leg Man".

他在视频中展现的乐观和勇气令他迅速在社交媒体上走红，并登上头条报道。迄今为止，他的故事在新浪微博获得了超过2100万的浏览量，许多网友称他为“钢腿侠”。

"What amazes me most is not your skills, but your confidence after such a trauma," a netizen named Modaren says.

网友莫大人表示：“最令我惊讶的不是你的工程技术，而是在经历了这样的创伤后，你依然自信。”

Liang says: "I hope my videos can be inspiring to people struggling through tough times, just like I have been through. Even a smile will make it worth it."

梁开宇说：“希望我的视频能够激励那些和我一样在艰难时期挣扎的人们。哪怕是他们看到我的视频以后，瞬间开心一下，那也值得。”

Since late 2020, he has customized and upgraded his high-tech prosthesis, including fitting a shock absorber and installing a charger port.

2020年底以来，他对自己的高科技假肢进行了定制和升级，包括安装减震器和充电端口。

‍shock absorber: [车辆][航] 减震器，缓冲器

图源：中国青年网

One of the latest upgrades is the addition of colored LED lights to his running blade. The LED lights can be connected via Bluetooth to a smartphone and change in color as they react to music, according to Liang.

梁开宇最新的升级之一是在假肢的跑刀上安装了彩色LED灯。LED灯可以通过蓝牙连接到手机上，还能随着音乐的节奏而变化颜色。

"Although China has millions of amputees, people with a prosthesis are still a rare sight on the street. My video may, in some way, encourage them," the man says, adding that prostheses can look cool.

“虽然中国有数以百万计的截肢者，但在大街上却很少见到穿戴假肢的人。我的视频或许在某种程度上会鼓励到他们。”他说，并认为假肢看起来很酷。

amputee: n. 截肢者

沉痛打击

Before the explosion, Liang opened a manufacturing plant in his hometown and lived a contented life with his son and his pregnant wife.

在意外发生前，梁开宇在老家开了一家制造厂，与怀孕的妻子和儿子过着幸福美满的生活。

As an engineer, building things was a hobby in his spare time. When he saw that a foreign engineer had developed an autonomous e-bike, he found the materials online and decided to build one himself.

作为一名工程师，制造东西是他的业余爱好。当看到一名外国工程师开发了一辆自动驾驶的电动自行车时，他在网上采购了材料，打算自己也制造一辆。

It took him more than a year to finally make it, but he was not satisfied and, in January 2020, he tried to optimize it.

梁开宇花了一年多的时间才做出来，但他并不满足，在2020年1月尝试对其进行优化。

"I tried a gyroscope sensor with a larger rotor and higher rotating speed to make the self-driving function more stable, but I made a mistake and the explosion occurred," Liang recalls.

他回忆道：“我尝试安装了一个更大转子及更高转速的陀螺仪传感器，想让自动驾驶的功能更稳定，但我犯了一个错误，爆炸意外发生了。”

gyroscope: n. 陀螺仪；[航] 回转仪

"When I regained consciousness after several seconds, I found myself lying on the ground and then I realized my leg was gone. I was quite calm and even recorded a video, and kept apologizing to my wife and son and said goodbye to the world," he adds.

他说：“几秒钟后，我恢复了意识，发现自己躺在地上，并意识到我的腿不见了。我很平静，甚至录了一段视频，不断向妻子和儿子道歉，然后向这个世界告别。”

When Liang underwent his amputation, his wife was giving birth to their second son in the same hospital.

当梁开宇接受截肢手术时，他的妻子在同一家医院生下了他们的第二个儿子。

After being in hospital for more than 20 days, he returned home and was ready for the real test — life without his left leg.

住院20多天后，他回到家，准备迎接真正的考验——失去左腿的生活。

"Physical recovery is the first step. Psychological acceptance matters more, which takes much longer," Liang says.

“恢复身体健康是第一步，心理上的接受更为重要，也需要更多时间。”梁开宇说。

Closing his company, he set aside one year to accept his new body. "It is my wife and my two sons, who keep motivating me. I must persist,  and giving up is not an option," Liang says.

关闭工厂后，他留出一年来接受自己的新身体。他说：“是我的妻子和两个儿子一直激励着我，我必须要坚持而不是放弃。”

Every night at about 2 or 3 am, phantom limb pains disturb his sleep.

每天凌晨两三点的时候，幻肢痛会扰乱他的睡眠。

图源：央视新闻

Thirty-six days after losing his leg, Liang, literally, got back in the saddle, not to drive, but to feel the roaring engine once again in hope that normality would, one day, return.

在失去腿的36天后，梁开宇坐在车座上。他不是为了开车，而是想再次感受引擎的轰鸣，希望自己有一天能够恢复正常。

About two months after the accident, he got his prosthetic leg and, on the 100th day, he could walk without crutches.

事故发生约两个月后，他拿到了属于自己的假肢。在第100天，他可以不用拐杖走路了。

crutch: n. 拐杖

找到希望

On short-video platforms, Liang saw other people with physical challenges who live no differently from other people. They ride bicycles, dance and even ski, using their prosthetic limbs.

在短视频平台上，梁开宇看到了其他残障人士发布的视频，发现他们的生活与身体健全的人没有什么不同，他们用假肢骑车、跳舞，甚至滑雪。

"Inspired by them, I started to post videos about my daily life," Liang says. He adds that short-video platforms help people with similar situations find one another and communicate.

他说：“受到他们的启发后，我也开始发布自己日常生活的视频。”他认为短视频平台可以帮助有类似情况的人们找到彼此，进行交流。

图源：央视新闻

"Although I don't know who they are, or what they have been through, their supportive, kind and encouraging words have lifted me up," he says.

“尽管我不知道他们是谁，他们经历了什么，但他们支持、关爱、鼓励的话语让我振作”，梁开宇说。

Liang's focus is now on making the new leg comfortable. "I have experienced some inconveniences and awkward moments while using the prosthetic leg, which has made me think about how to modify it," Liang says.

现在他的重点是让“新腿”变得舒适。“我在使用假肢的过程中经历了一些不便和尴尬的时刻，这让我开始思考如何让它变得舒适。”

Security checks when traveling, especially at airports, can be a bit problematic.

旅行过安检的时候会有一些问题，尤其在机场。

"Although invited to a private room for further screening, I still feel quite awkward taking off my trousers in front of several guards," Liang says.

梁开宇说：“虽然会被请到一个私密房间去进一步检查，但在几个安检人员面前脱裤子还是让我觉得很尴尬。”

To avoid such incidents, he spent several days in early May upgrading his prosthesis. Through design, modeling and manufacturing, he made a coupling device to connect the socket of the leg with the prosthetic knee.

为了避免此类事件，他在5月初花了几天时间升级了自己的假肢。通过设计、建模和制造，他制作了一种快拆接口，将腿部的承窝与假肢的膝关节连接起来。

"With the gadget, people like me can take the leg off in one second without having to remove a screw," Liang explains.

他解释道：“有了这个配件，像我这样的人可以在一秒钟内将假肢轻易取下来，而不需要卸掉螺丝。”

"The security check while traveling is just one scenario; others include trying on clothes in fitting rooms, shoes at shopping malls, and changing from 'feet' to a running blade before jogging."

“旅行时过安检只是其中一种情况，还有别的情况，包括在试衣间穿衣服、在商场试鞋以及在慢跑前将‘脚’换成跑步用刀片。”

To know about the structure and system of the prosthetics better, he disassembled some secondhand prosthetic limbs that were made in China and abroad, which cost him hundreds of thousands of yuan.

为了更好了解假肢的结构和体系，梁开宇拆解了一些花费十几万元购买的国内外制造的二手假肢。

"I want to let more people know about these high-tech prosthetics, which are comfortable and safer to wear. It can boost confidence with every step," Liang says.

他说：“我想让更多人了解这种更加安全、舒适的高科技假肢，每一步都能增强自信。”

"The only thing is that the cost is unaffordable for most families, usually ranging from 200,000 yuan ($29,900) to 800,000 yuan," he says.

他提到：“唯一的问题就是大多数家庭难以负担高科技假肢的费用，这通常需要花费20万元至80万元。”

Liang adds that due to the small market, there are few companies in China investing in the research and development of such prosthetics.

梁开宇补充说，由于市场较小，我国很少有公司投资类似高科技假肢的研发。

To advance functional performance and help amputees maintain or regain their freedom of movement, Liang has provided his experience and suggestions to several prosthetics companies.

为了提高假肢的功能性能，帮助截肢者保持或恢复活动自由，他向几家假肢公司提供了自己的经验和建议。

"If there is a good opportunity, I want to make high-tech prosthetics accessible and affordable to more amputees in China," Liang says.

梁开宇说：“如果有好的机会，我想让中国的更多截肢者能负担并使用高科技假肢。”

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编辑：朱迪齐

记者：王茜

实习生：孟礼 张玺

录音：Stephanie Stone

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