Tian displays artwork he created using his feet at home.[Photo by Huang Zhiling/China Daily]

Soon after Jiang was born, however, a nurse came into the room with a concerned look on her face.

She asked if Li was taking any previously undeclared medicine or if her husband was a close relative.

"I was confused. I asked if something was wrong. That's when the nurse said my son didn't have any arms, and I lost consciousness," Li said.

When she awoke, Li found that Jiang had disappeared－some of her family had decided it would be best to give the boy away and handed him to a motorized-tricycle driver.

Distraught, Li called the police, who found the baby abandoned by the side of the road several days later.

His grandmother, 67-year-old Tan Ying, said Jiang's birth had brought great sorrow to their family. "Even now, relatives shed tears when we talk about him," she said.

Li, however, resolved that she would do all she could to help her son.

So from the time he was 8 months old, Jiang has been learning how to do everything with his feet.

"She would sit on the edge of the bed with her hands behind her to teach Jiang how to hold objects and write with his toes," Tan said.

All the hard work finally paid off, and although Li worries if her son will be able to find a wife when he grows up, she hopes he will continue to cultivate his talent for painting.

Jiang's 18-year-old sister will graduate from high school this summer. His father Jiang Ping, 41, works as an interior decorator in the county seat.

Following a three-year lawsuit, the family received 300,000 yuan ($43,570) compensation from the hospital where Jiang was born.