S’porean Man Told He’ll Be Paralysed For Life; Starts Rock-Climbing 4 Months Later

This is basically a movie in the making.

CCB (Chua Chee Beng): The Man Who Never Fell

Wait, that acronym is pretty wrong, so I guess we’ll stick with Rocky, for a rock climber.

Shit, that’s also copyrighted. I guess we’ll just scrap the movie and just go with this article.

Here’s the story, right from the start.

Fell 7m while climbing at Bukit Timah’s Dairy Farm outdoor reserve

Chua Chee Beng, 50, is a rock climbing instructor and sports enthusiast.

Two years ago (2017), he went rock climbing at Bukit Timah’s Diary Farm outdoor reserve.

But, little did he know, a small accident would cause him to fall from a height of 7m while abseiling. His climbing rope had slipped loose.

From the fall, Mr Chua suffered fractures in his heels, ankles, and his spine cracked, damaging his spinal cord.

The doctors told him that he can walk no longer, and would have to rely on a wheelchair from then on.

And like any other normal human being, he accepted the medical opinion of the doctor and went on to live with a wheelchair…

NOT!

He swore he will walk out of the hospital in 2 months

Cue the Rocky music; determination starts now.

(And this is true: I listened to this the entire time while writing the article. My Airpods went from 100% battery to 150% battery because of the music.)

Instead of listening to medical advice, he refused to bend down to the will of life and swore:

“I don’t believe I’ll be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. So I told myself, I’m not being pushed out of a wheelchair from this hospital two months from now. I’ll walk out myself.”

This wasn’t an easy path. There was once he told his wife he almost wanted to give up and didn’t felt like living anymore.

The pain was so great, he couldn’t take it. His wife would encourage him and told him that their children are still young. He must fight on. Every morning, his legs would ache, and while brushing his teeth, he would massage it a little. But when he exercised his legs, he felt a little better.

One thing’s for sure: Mr Chua didn’t stop playing the Rocky music.

Here’s his life philosophy: “There will be unexpected happenings and disasters in life. You cannot give up, much less be afraid of adventures or risks. Go enjoy what you love to do, and overcome the difficulties.”

One week before the promised 2 months, and he f***ing did it:

He would then train himself to walk 3 to 4km every other day, which is more than what I am doing every day now.

Then, He Started Rock Climbing

And then, another 2 months later, he was able to rock climb again and spent Christmas doing that.

Now, he is going to participate in a 50km charity walk called “Let’s Take A Walk” in November 2019. This would be the first time since his recovery that he is walking such a long stretch.

The furthest since then was 15km, so he is now determined to train for the 50km walk.

Feeling inspired already? Perhaps… you wanted to hear more inspiring stories like this?

Here’s the thing: what you’re reading now is Beng: The Man Who Never Fell Episode 3.

Episode 1: Race to Indian Snow Mountains

According to AsiaOne, in 2001, Mr Chua was climbing the Indian snow mountains. It was then, a giant boulder struck his legs and injured his ligaments.

Even so, he didn’t give up and continued on his usual activities, including running, climbing and cycling.

Beng treated his ligaments like how I treated a mosquito bite; give it a little scratch and it will be fine.

Episode 2: Taxi Fast Bike Furious

Just a year later in 2002, he was cycling and then collided with a taxi. It’s not quite known what exactly caused the accident, but he flew and crashed through the rear window of the taxi.

But unlike Episode 1, the broken shards pierced his left arm and throat.

At the hospital, the doctor told him that if one of the shards were just 1 cm off, they would have punctured his airway.

It is with these injuries that he then had bone grafting surgery on his legs.

And with that, if you have any dreams…

Just. Do it.

Don’t let your dreams be memes.