Just one year after losing his eyes and hands from a landmine explosion, Du Fuguo can already eat, dress, wash and go to toilet by himself. But that's not enough. He still treats himself strictly, with the standards of a soldier.

Du, 28, lost his eyes and hands during a mine clearance operation along the China-Vietnam boarder in Yunnan Province on October 11, 2018, trying to protect his fellow soldiers from a landmine explosion.

On July 31 in Beijing, Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), awarded him the title "Heroic Demining Soldier.”

Doctors said even with the most advanced prosthesis, it's still difficult for him to live a normal life without eyesight. But Du didn't lose hope.

He keeps working. To learn to turn the handle to open the door, he spent four days practicing until the crook of his arm was streaked with blood. He insisted on running on a treadmill and can now go for 10 kilometers without rest.

In addition to recovery exercises, he still keeps writing and learning new skills, such as broadcasting and using short video apps.

"I want to be a normal person, and make a breakthrough every day," he said.

In his mother Li Helan's eyes, his son is not a hero. "He is just my child. Seeing him recover, practicing over and over again, it's so painstaking. But he is strong and never gives up. The whole family supports him," Li said.

(Compiled by Huang Jingjing; Source: CCTV)