Niu Yu, 24, became a shining star at Shanghai Fashion Week for her confident attitude while walking down the catwalk with a prosthetic (假肢的) leg. "She is so cool and so pretty." Many audience made such comments on her first performance on the stage. But actually, she was so nervous on the night before the event that she wasn't able to fall asleep. The next morning, her friend reminded her of a message from another disabled girl, reading "Although we are not perfect, we are still pretty". It gave her much courage to put a punch (痛击) in the nose for prejudice against disabled people. When the other models appeared, the audience cheered and applauded, but when it was Niu's turn, the venue suddenly fell silent Niu recalled that after some seconds, she clearly heard a female audience sigh in admiration, "so cool!" Through the activity, Niu wants to convey a message to the world, "People should respect people with difference and allow them to shine."
Niu lost her right leg after she was buried for three days during the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake. She was 11 years old then and a member of the school track and field team.
This is not the first time that Niu has been in the public spotlight. She first drew people's attention when she finished a marathon in 2018, which was held in Wenchuan on May 12, in memory of the 10th anniversary of the earthquake. The day was also Niu's 21th birthday. She suddenly realized that she could have a beneficial impact on the lives of others.
Niu now works as a photographer and often uploads video clips from her life on short video platforms such as Douyin, where she has more than 850,000 followers. She explained that she shares her experiences to help society at large better understand disabled groups. "I feel I have a social responsibility to connect the disabled with the public. Showing my life to the public can allow them to become familiar with our group and also can tell other disabled people that society is more tolerate than they imagined."
