At just over 5 years old, she suffered deep burns to her left lower limb from fire. After recovering through multiple skin grafts, she gradually developed symptoms such as ankle varus and cavus foot (high-arched foot). Then, at just over 6, an accident caused a fracture of her iliac bone — she went through two surgeries, one to reset the bone and one to remove the internal fixation.

(Image: 11-year-old girl Tingting)

The 11-year-old girl, Tingting, was like "walking on thorns" throughout her ordeal. With resilience and bravery, she stepped, bit by bit, onto smooth ground. Yet the marks left from repairing that massive burn wound became, for the beauty-conscious Tingting, an "emotional knot" she could never untie.

A doctor's warm words untied the years-long "heart knot."

In the summer of 2025 — the year she turned 11 — Tingting came, drawn by its reputation, to Renji, accompanied by her family, to improve the abnormality in her foot.

The Orthopedic Deformity team, including Vice President Xie Shuqiang, listened to the family's account of her medical history and were overcome with sympathy. They sighed: "At an age that should be carefree, she had already endured so much suffering."

Especially when examining her foot's appearance, Tingting seemed a bit resistant. Only when, urged by her parents, she rolled up her pant leg, did the exposed marks from repairing the massive burn wound reveal themselves — truly shocking.

(Images: rolled-up pant leg revealing the scars — heartbreaking; also caused equinus foot and other limb abnormalities)

It had also caused limb deformities such as equinus foot (toe-walking deformity).

Director Xie immediately understood why — the kind-hearted child was simply afraid of scaring them. So he said warmly:

"This isn't scary at all. Look — this is your 'medal' for defeating the accident…"

Those around him chimed in: "Child, you are so brave, truly amazing — we really admire you…" Amid one word of encouragement after another, and the many thumbs-up gestures extended toward her, we saw Tingting's originally downcast eyes gain a bright light.

The well-deserved "kid sister" successfully "cleared challenge after challenge."

After consultation, physical examination, and relevant tests, they found that walking on tiptoe on the left side and limping were typical burn-induced equinus foot — a relatively mild case. With corrective surgery and an external fixation orthosis, she could achieve good recovery.

When it comes to children, one always shows a little extra tenderness — doctors are no exception. While explaining the surgical plan to Tingting and her family, attending physician Li Jianyong specifically encouraged her:

"It's a routine surgery, the symptoms are mild, and recovery will be better and faster — so be happy…"

(Images: Orthopedic Deformity team successfully completed the corrective surgery and installed an external fixator to correct the residual deformity)

The surgery, lasting one hour, was a smooth success. During the operation, they corrected the equinus deformity, lengthened the tendons, and used the external fixator to correct the residual deformity. Post-op, once the wound dried, they began adjusting the fixator. The overall recovery was both smooth and efficient.

(Images: 7 weeks later — sole touches the ground, correction target achieved, external fixator removed)

Seven weeks later, she reached the expected correction goal: sole on the ground, improved gait, and more. She returned to have the external fixator removed. Tingting and her family were very satisfied with the correction results.

Life never lets down those who, having fallen, still look up at the starry sky and hold hope in their hearts. Whether in good times or bad, one should keep the posture of running forward — because the value of life lies not in how high a place you stand, but in how many times you fall and still choose to press bravely onward.

Just like Tingting: after falling, after the accident, with resilience and bravery she still forged ahead. Every difficult pass was cleared; though the road ahead is long, it shines bright. We firmly believe Tingting's future will surely be boundless and brilliant…