Your eyes do not deceive you. This man in a wheelchair is rock climbing. Lai chiwai is a four-time winner of the Asian Rock Climbing Championships and China’s first winner of the X-Games.A car accident in 2011 paralyzed him from the hip down, but the 35-year-old just won’t quit.
“I love to rock climb, before there was a lot more freedom, I could go to various indoor climbing spaces, or if I wanted to go rock climbing outdoors I could do it whenever I wanted to. But now that I’m in a wheelchair, I need to consider a lot of things,is it appropriate for me to climb, is it safe, are people able to help me?Rock climbing in a wheelchair requires a lot of assistance. There are limits and it requires consideration of the conditions before I can climb,even though there’s a lot more hassle I can still do it, but it just requires the help of more people.”
After his injury Lai tried his head at boxing, fencing and table tennis, but he always came back to rock climbing.Then on the fifth anniversary of the accident that took the use of his legs Lai climbed nearly 500 meters to the top of Hong Kong’s Lion Rock.
“To me climbing to the top was accomplishing a dream of mine and it also—by climbing the mountain—meant that I could show to my friends and supporters that I have overcome one of the lowest points in life.Even through I’m in a wheelchair I can challenge other sports and still be able to do what I love most.”
Lai is now a part-time motivational speaker, and was recently nominated for the Laureus World Sports Awards Best Sporting moment for his climb up Lion Rock.By overcoming his own challenges, Lai says he hopes he can inspire others to do the same.
