Anyone afflicted with the genetic disorder muscular dystrophy (MD) could be paralyzed. In the worst cases, the afflicted cannot even breathe by themselves and need to be assisted by a ventilator.

Li Xia, 36, from Chongqing, China, was diagnosed with MD at age five and the condition progressed and worsened over time until he could no longer breathe and move by himself, except for one finger and one toe. His mother, Wu Dimei, and younger sister cared for him.

Despite his condition, Li learned physics and computer science at age 25. He also learned programming on online forums, and in 2021 delved into soilless cultivation using his finger to type on a virtual keyboard, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports.

Incredibly, Li developed a complete smart control system for an entire farm, with Wu doing the hands-on work guided by his instructions, according to SCMP.

As Li’s technician, the mother also assembled a remote-control driverless vehicle by hand to collect crop deliveries. Today, Li’s farm runs smoothly and has begun turning a profit, SCMP reports.

China’s state media CCTV reported Li’s story and he drew an outpouring of support.

Meanwhile, a woman worker in China was accidentally injured by heavy machinery in April.

Her scalp, neck and facial skin were torn and “split into multiple fragments,” while her ear was “completely severed along with the scalp,” SCMP reports.

The woman surnamed Sun was taken to the Shandong Provincial Hospital in Jinan and surgeons restored her scalp by grafting skin taken from her stomach onto her head, according to SCMP. However, they could not reattach the severed ear until the skull tissue had healed.

To preserve the ear, the doctors decided to graft it onto the top of the woman’s foot in an unprecedented highly complex procedure.

It took 10 hours to attach the ear to the foot before it was transplanted five months later to the healed scalp and neck skin of the patient in a six-hour operation.

Sun eventually recovered and was discharged from the hospital.