Profile | ‘I felt free’: Hong Kong Paralympic badminton medal winner Daniel Chan Ho-yuen on losing his leg in a car crash, and overcoming adversity
- Hong Kong badminton up-and-comer Daniel Chan Ho-yuen was in a crash in 2008 that cost him a leg and 11 months in hospital. But his worst days were after his discharge
- After struggling with an uncertain future, he got back on the court and has since gone on to win bronze at the 2020 Paralympics
I was born in Hong Kong in 1985. My family weren’t well off. My parents worked in the garment manufacturing industry and the five of us – me, my parents, my sister and our dog – lived in a 150 sq ft (14 square metre) public housing flat in Tsuen Wan, in the New Territories.
I wasn’t the sort of kid who could sit still with a book. I liked sports, especially football, and supported Manchester United.
My mum didn’t push me to compete academically; her only request was that I live a happy life. And life was easy as a kid. I went to Tsuen Wan Public Ho Chuen Yiu Memorial College and played with friends after school.
When I moved to secondary school, perhaps because I’m quite tall, I was sponsored to play badminton for Tsuen Wan, which meant training five days a week. I was confident and perhaps sometimes even a little arrogant, my wife, Sandy, would say.
I met Sandy at secondary school, when I was 13, but we didn’t start dating until she returned from doing her bachelor’s degree in the UK.
We knew each other well. Our relationship was close, like soul mates, before we became a couple.
