A woman who lost her leg when she was buried as a girl in a collapsed building during an earthquake has dazzled the audience at the prestigious Shanghai Fashion Week after taking to the stage as a model.

Niu Yu, 24, whose right leg was amputated when she was 11 years old after an earthquake in 2008, amazed the audience at Fashion Week in Shanghai in China as she confidently walked down the catwalk, as noted by local media outlets Shine and Global Times.

She is quoted by Shine as saying that she had felt flattered as well as nervous after the Shanghai Fashion Week reached out to her, saying: “I know that there’s a huge gap between me and the professional models. I have to wear comfortable shoes such as trainers because of my prosthetic leg.

“The runway would just take me one minute to walk, but what is hard for me to overcome is the psychological problems.”

She added: “It took me a really long time to muster enough confidence to get on the runway. It counts as a big breakthrough for me.”

Yu, who is also photographer, said that sometimes she has to guide the models she is taking pictures of which means that the roles are reversed, so she knows what its like to be photographed.

She added: “Once a sportswear brand found me and wished to hire me as their model.

“One staff member of the brand told me that a prosthetic leg and sports seemed that they can’t be linked together, but it can’t stop you from striving to go higher and embodying the spirit of sports. His words really inspired me.”

Yu’s right leg was amputated at the age of 11 after the Wenchuan Earthquake in 2008. She was at school in a classroom when the earthquake happened and was buried for three days before being found.

After she was rescued, her right leg had to be amputated.

Rising above numerous challenges since then, she now has over 850,000 followers on Douyin, which is what TikTok is called in China.