Life against the odds

Li recounted her friendship with an old lady called Jiang, who she amiably calls "grandma". Grandma Jiang learned of Li's story from the newspapers, and wrote her a letter. Their correspondence lasted seven years until 2007, when Jiang passed away.

Li wrote to Grandma Jiang things that she would not want her parents to know. "Grandma Jiang often encouraged me to go out to be close to nature, but I was afraid. I was afraid of being looked at by others. They may just cast a glimpse at me, but it hurt back then. It seemed I was different."

Grandma Jiang replied to Li, saying she should have nothing to fear, and that as long as she kept learning, she could contribute to society instead of being a burden.

Li kept burst into tears when she recalled the only chance she got to visit Grandma Jiang -- at Jiang's funeral in 2007. "She was a big part in Grandma Jiang's life, and Grandma Jiang was a big part in her life." Li's mother said.

Li and her mother kept recalling people who have helped them: the high school principal, a TV program legal advisor, a judge in their hometown in Jiangxi who reviewed their case, Li's fellow patients, and numerous others who visited her in hospital when the accident happened.

"There are so many people out there for me. Without any one of them, I would not have been able to make it." Li said.

She has been painting porcelain plates for a year, a representative art in her hometown in Jiangxi Province. She intends to put her porcelain plate paintings on auction, and donate the money to others in need.

When asked how she envisioned her future, Li said firmly, "To draw; to draw for a lifetime."