Qian is queen of the pool

She may have been forced to use a basketball as a prosthetic but that has not stopped her ambition to compete on the sporting world's biggest stage.

Qian Hongyan, whose plight touched millions of people around the globe, has joined a swimming club and begun training to fulfil her dream of competing in the 2012 Paralympics in London. The ten-year-old suffered horrific injuries in a car crash when she was three and doctors had to amputate her legs to ensure her survival.

Unable to afford modern prosthetics, her family in Zhuangxia, China, used half a basketball to help her get about.

Hongyan's body slides into the ball and she holds two wooden props in her hands to assist movement.
But she has not let disability stand in her way and has joined the South Of The Clouds swimming club.

Although Hongyan now has a pair of hi-tech prosthetic limbs, she still uses the basketball from time to time as it helps her get in and out of the pool.