Tokyo Paralympics 2021: Bear attack survivor Ma Lin aiming for his first Australian gold in Tokyo

He had his arm eaten by a bear at a zoo, thrust into a taxi by shocked tourists, the terrifying attack would set in motion an inspiring journey all the way to representing Australia.

Australia’s Table Tennis Team new addition Lin Ma practicing prior to the start of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games Paralympics Australia / Day -4 Tokyo Japan: Friday 20th Aug 2021 © Sport the library / Greg Smith / PA

Every member of the Australian Paralympic team has had to travel a unique and difficult road to Tokyo, but few have encountered as many wild twists and turns along the way as Ma Lin, the one-armed table tennis player gunning for gold.

The naturalised Australian’s right arm was eaten by a brown bear at a zoo near his family home in provincial China in the mid 1990s.

Ma Lin was just five years old at the time and lost so much blood that he was lucky to survive the attack. It changed the course of his life, but to this day, he does not blame the caged animal.

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The Australia table tennis team’s new addition, Ma Lin, brings with him a remarkable story of triumph after a bear attack almost cost him his life as a child.

“I thought he was my friend because I used to go to the zoo every week to feed him,” Ma Lin told News Corp.

“So, I just decided to reach out and pat him, but I guess he was not in a good mood that day.”

Without warning, the giant bear bit clean through Ma Li’s right arm, between the elbow and shoulder, chewing all the bone and the flesh and leaving nothing except a few tendons that were still attached to the lower part of his arm.

Blood was gushing out of the wound, but he remained conscious and awake.

“I think I was in a bit of shock,” he said. “But I didn’t cry. Not once.”

Ma Lin’s friend, a six year old who had also come with him to the zoo, sprinted across the road to call his parents for help, while a group of tourists who witnessed the shocking incident put Ma Lin in a taxi and rushed him to hospital because there was not enough time to wait for an ambulance.

Ma Lin does not blame the caged animal for what happened when he was five. His only concern later would be whether he would be able to get a girlfriend when he was older.

The surgeons saved his life but couldn’t save the dangling lower part of his arm so amputated at the shoulder, which Ma Lin only found out about when he woke from the operation and asked his parents the one question that was troubling him.

“I just wanted to know if I would still be able to get a girlfriend when I was older,” he said. “They said ‘of course’ so I was happy.”

A budding classical pianist before the attack, Ma Lin switched his focus to table tennis after he got hooked on the sport watching China sweep all four gold medals on offer at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Yang Qian practises in preparation for the Tokyo Paralympics. Pictures: PA

But there was a problem he had to overcome.

He was a natural right hander so he had to teach himself to do everything left handed but once he mastered that, there was no stopping him.

Competing for China, he won his first Paralympic gold medal at Beijing in 2008, then two more at London in 2012 and another one at Rio in 2016, when he decided to make a life-changing decision.

Yang Qian and Lei Lina (right), along with Ma Lin, add some real strength to the Aussie team.

Along with Lei Lina and Yang Qian — the three Chinese champions all moved to Australia and pledged their allegiance to their new homeland.

In a massive coup for the Australian Paralympic table tennis program, all three have been selected for Tokyo — as part of a record 11-member team that has real hopes of getting on the podium after Sam von Einem broke a 32-year drought when he won a silver medal for Australia in Rio.

“It was really a lifestyle decision by all three of them. They‘re all good friends with each other,” said Alois Rosario, the Australian head coach who has overseen the rebuilding of the national program since being appointed in 2013.

“Probably the most pleasing thing for us is that they‘re still keen to improve. They’re still keen to work hard, they’re still keen to play table tennis at the highest level and now really keen to represent Australia.

“Ma Lin talks about wanting to keep going to 2032 when he‘ll be 43 years old but Ma Lin’s an exceptional character and an exceptional athlete so if he says he can do it then I believe him.

“They came with 10 gold medals and seven silver medals between them but it‘s what it also does for the rest of our squad and what it does for the profile of para table tennis in Australia that is really exciting.”