It was in a table-tennis court six years ago that I came across Ri Son Ae who lives in Kyonghung-dong, Pothonggang District, Pyongyang.
At that time I was 24 years old. I was having a break from training when she came up to me.
She stroked my amputated arm tied with a racket with a rubber band and said in a tearful voice that she had never seen someone without arms playing table tennis.
Her sympathetic attitude drew me to feel free to say about my past life:
Born into an ordinary worker’s family in Nampho, I got my forearms amputated in an accident when I was 12 years old.
But thanks to the benevolent care of the state I was given the same opportunities for learning as others and after I graduated from school, I joined the Korean Sports Association of the Disabled.
In the association I learned to play table tennis as I wished. Learning how to play table tennis without arms was a torture, but I trained myself hard. My persistent efforts paid off. I was successful at several domestic and international competitions, bringing honour to our country.
My story filled with pride moved Ri. She said in tears: Yong Rok, you performed bigger exploits for the country than those with arms. I want to give you a helping hand from today.
Since that day she has taken good care of me just like her own son. On my birthdays she invited me to her home to treat me with tasty foods. When I was training for an expected match, she came to me with nutritious foods, saying that nutrition matters a lot for a player.
In the table tennis event of the annual sports games of persons with disabilities and amateurs she cheered me up in the venue.
Once she gave me a smart suit she had kept for her son Myong Song who was to be discharged from the army. There are many other similar stories.
She hugged me shedding tears of joy and excitement on the day when I was awarded Kim Il Sung Youth Honour Prize, the highest honorary prize for the Korean youth.
She is engraved in my memory as my own mother.
Kim Yong Rok from the Korean Sports Association of the Disabled
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