A FIRE almost took Li Xiaoguang’s life 21 years ago. With faith in life and support from other people, Li has found redemption in technological research, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.

A gas explosion in 1996 not only took the lives of Li’s parents, but also left him with third-degree burns on 76 percent of his body and a crippled right foot. He also lost nine fingers in the tragedy. He could only be fed small pieces of food, since his mouth was burnt into a hole. On numerous occasions, thoughts of ending his life to free himself from the pain and grief entered his mind.

Donations and encouraging letters from strangers gave Li the strength to shift the trajectory of his life. After two years of surgeries and recovery, he returned to his hometown of Chongqing and launched an innovation startup.

Li invented gadgets to take care of himself and continued working on a computer that a friend of his father had given him. “Although I only have one finger, invention is brainwork, which I am very good at,” said Li. His company later moved to an office building and hired 30 engineers.

However, another disaster hit when the Internet investment crisis crushed his startup in 2003. It was then that Li received an offer from Foxconn in Shenzhen.

The choice was not easy for him, Li said, since the fire had taken place in Shenzhen, and returning would tear open the wound in his heart. However, his father’s unfinished will and his dream of innovation pushed him to accept the job.

At Foxconn, his efforts at inventing a variety of electronics bore fruit. As of 2016, he had filed more than 600 patents, among which over 200 were approved by intellectual property offices in China and overseas. The inventions also brought the company economic value exceeding 10 billion yuan (US$1.47 billion).

Apart from the achievements in his career, Li has also married a co-worker, Liu Hongye.

“He is especially concentrated when he is working, and that kind of concentration attracted me,” said his wife. “He is humorous and thoughtful, and he has taught me a lot. Although there were many obstacles throughout our relationship, I never wavered.”

The couple has a 6-year-old daughter. They named the girl Qiangqiang, which is pronounced like the sound that a phoenix makes, symbolizing unswerving vitality, according to Li. He also said that his happiest moments are walking with his family on the company’s soccer field every evening, which has given him faith and satisfaction in life.

“If it weren’t for the accident, I can’t imagine what my life would be now. All I know is that I will carry on with my dream of innovating even if I have only one finger,” said Li. “I will never give up. I want people to see that disability does not mean the end of the world. As long as you concentrate on your specialization, you can work as well as an ordinary person.”

Li has been selected as the national model worker and given the name “Shining Longhua man.”

(Lei Kaibin)