Wheelchair record-holder Xie Junwu opens skateboarding centre in Nanchang
Paralysed at 19, Xie Junwu went on to set a Guinness wheelie record and complete 32 marathons, and now runs what is almost certainly China's first wheelchair skateboarding centre.
Xie Junwu, a wheelchair user from Nanchang, has set up what is almost certainly China’s first wheelchair skateboarding training centre, where he helps others grow more confident in handling their chairs.
It crowns an extraordinary journey. At 19, while on a geology work placement, Xie fell from a tree he was climbing and injured his spine, losing the use of his legs. He then spent eight years at home, never going out alone, while his mother cared for him full time.
He had promised her he would find some independence. When she died in 2000, that promise became a matter of necessity. In 2004 he went to a spinal cord injury meetup and watched someone hold a wheelchair balanced on its back wheels. Xie began studying online videos, mostly from overseas, of advanced wheelchair moves, stair climbing included, and set about copying them. Plenty of painful spills followed.
The effort paid off in 2012, when he shook hands with a Guinness World Records observer after finishing the longest wheelchair wheelie ever recorded: 25.8 kilometres, or about 16 miles. That was no mean feat. Over the next ten years he reached the top of Mount Huangshan, close to 6,000 feet high, four times and completed 32 marathons, the New York City Marathon among them.
He first tried skateboarding in 2014. Xie bolted metal rails to a board so his wheels could not slip off, then pressed left and right with them, much as a skater shifts weight with their feet. It was hard going even for him, so he set it aside while he concentrated on marathons.
Last November he found a training base in Nanchang with a courtyard full of curves and gentle slopes, ideal for taking it up again. Viral online videos brought him wider attention, and he then opened a sports rehabilitation clinic for wheelchair users, the Nanchang City Hope House. He explains that coordinated activities of this kind help build muscle, strengthen the heart and fortify the immune system.
His next hope is to hold a wheelchair skateboarding competition, the first of its kind in the country. He describes it as a “small goal I’m pursuing.”
Why it matters
Xie went from eight years indoors to creating spaces built around wheelchair users, drawing on the skills he taught himself. Regular physical activity is widely recognised as good for health, and confidence in handling a wheelchair can make everyday life easier. His story shows that a serious spinal injury need not bring an active life to an end.
