"Ihwa Womans University’s Lee Juhyun Wins International Disability Wearable Competition, Aiming to Contribute to Women and Disability Rights"

Paralyzed from the waist down due to an accident during senior year exam period
Decided to become a Cybathlon athlete through introduction during rehabilitation at a university hospital
Freshman in Political Science at Ewha Womans University
"I want to solve issues of mobility and toileting rights for people with disabilities"

Mr. Lee Juhyun participating in the Cybathlon competition (Provided by Ewha Womans University)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] Lee Joo-hyun (20), a first-year student majoring in Political Science and International Relations at Ewha Womans University, has become a hot topic after overcoming flaccid paralysis and winning 3rd place at the international disabled wearable robot competition.

According to Ewha Womans University on the 24th, Lee recently won the bronze medal by placing 3rd in the wearable exoskeleton robot (EXO) category at the 'Cybathlon 2020' Korea regional competition held at KAIST in Daejeon. She competed wearing a biomechanical assistive device similar to a robot in the Cybathlon competition for disabled athletes and recorded a time of 5 minutes and 51 seconds to win the award. Lee said, "I am very happy to have achieved good results after about a year and a half of effort by many people, and I think this will remain a memorable moment in my life."

Last year, when she was a high school senior, Lee was diagnosed with paralysis of the lower body due to an unexpected traffic accident. Although the accident occurred during her college entrance exam period, she did not lose heart and devoted herself to rehabilitation. While receiving treatment in the rehabilitation medicine department of a university hospital, she learned about the international Cybathlon competition through her attending professors Shin Ji-chul and Na Dong-wook and decided to become an athlete. Lee said, "Being discouraged about the unfortunate event that already happened does not help my future at all, so I prioritized thinking about what I should do for my future."

Since June last year, Lee joined the KAIST research team and trained while simultaneously preparing for the college entrance exam. Early this year, she was selected as a representative athlete and was admitted to Ewha Womans University’s Political Science and International Relations department at the same time. However, balancing academics and athletic life as a university freshman and disabled athlete was not easy. Lee said, "When I was training, I had to spend about 12 hours at the training center, so attending classes was sometimes difficult, and especially during midterm exams, I had to complete tests and assignments within about three days, which was challenging." Nevertheless, her first semester GPA was excellent at 4.08 out of 4.3.

As a freshman of the class of 2020, Lee has a special affection for Ewha Womans University. She even named the robot she wore during the Cybathlon competition 'Greenie,' after Ewha’s symbolic color, 'Ewha Green.' Lee said, "Since all classes were online and I couldn’t attend school events, I felt a great sense of regret, and studying only at home was mentally exhausting. However, I am studying with hope that the COVID-19 situation will ease somewhat next year so that I can meet my classmates."

The university’s support system for disabled students was also a great help. Lee said, "Before the first semester was confirmed to be fully online, the Disabled Student Support Center offered services to assist with moving between classrooms, and I knew that dormitories, the ECC, and many elevators were installed for disabled students so that they could freely move around campus."

Majoring in Political Science and International Relations, Lee expressed her desire to contribute to the advancement of women’s and disabled people’s human rights. She emphasized, "I often feel that many women and disabled people are still discriminated against both overtly and implicitly in society. In particular, I want to address the low sentencing for sexual crimes against women and issues related to the mobility and toileting rights of disabled people."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.