The Armless Pianist
This story happened 28 years ago.
It was a warm afternoon in the city of Ch'eng-tu, the weather was pleasant. For children, it was a good day for outdoor games.
Ten-year-old Liu Wei darted through the narrow alleyways in a game of hide-and-seek with his friends. Laughter echoed off the walls, feet pounded over the pavement, and Liu, often the daring one, spotted what seemed like the perfect hiding place—a tucked-away metal shed behind a construction site. In his eagerness, he clambered atop it, not knowing that just above ran high-voltage power lines humming with lethal energy.
He reached up, maybe to steady himself or just to peek over the edge, and in that instant—a sudden crackle, a blinding arc of electricity. The world stopped. Silence, followed by screams. The current surged through him with devastating force.
He was sent to a hospital. Wang Hsiang-ying, Liu Wei's mother, said "I found the world had collapsed. What could I do?"
It would take doctors three months of delicate care and Liu’s own unbreakable will to survive, but when he finally opened his eyes after 45 days in critical condition, he was without his arms.
In the hospital, he met an armless painter, which inspired him to learn to use his feet to write, brush his teeth and eat. Liu Wei stayed in rehabilitation centre for 2 years, and witnessed many deaths. When he got out, he was grateful to be alive. Liu Wei said "I wanted to move on with my life, and if I could, that would be a success for me."
Two years after the accident, he was introduced to the capital’s paralyzed swimming team. Despite being a double-amputee, he managed to take two golds in the National Paralyzed Swimming Championship at 14.
But two missing arms weren’t the last of his physical ailments. Soon after his gold medals he was diagnosed with allergic purpura which forbade him from intensive exercise.
Liu's mother said "The moment I found out, I shouted to the sky: What have I done wrong to deserve this?" Liu Wei said "My body bleeds, and my kidney is dysfunctional."
When Liu Wei's health forced him to abandon sports, he turned to music as a new form of expression—one that demanded incredible dexterity and devotion. Playing the piano with his feet was more than unconventional—it was nearly unimaginable. Most believed it couldn’t be done. Music producer Chung Sheng even confessed he had tried it himself and found it impossible. But Liu, undeterred, saw a flicker of hope. “If I didn’t try,” he said, “I’d have no chance at all.”
Without a mentor or guide, Liu forged his own path. He spent hours stretching and training his toes, working to separate and control them like fingers. Practice became his lifeline—seven hours a day, every day. Slowly, progress came, fueling his determination. Within a year, he was performing live, capturing audiences with both his music and his spirit. His 2011 debut at Vienna’s Goldener Saal marked a turning point—not only for his career, but as a symbol of what resilience can achieve. (Finito)