You've got to hand it to him: Man abandoned by his mother who thought he was a 'devil child' overcomes inability to walk on his legs

Ethiopian Tameru Zegeye adopted by church at an early age

Spent hours practising so he can walk on his hands instead

Able to walk up to 75 metres or down 50 steps using walking sticks

Abandoned: Tameru Zegeye was adopted by the church after his mother
abandoned him believing he was a 'devil child' because of his leg deformity

A man born with deformed legs and feet has overcome his crippling disability - by learning to walk on his hands.
Ethiopian Tameru Zegeye faced a miserable life after being abandoned as a child by his mother who believed he was 'cursed by the devil'.
He was adopted by the church and at first made his way around by crawling like a snake.

Determination: Tameru spent ten years getting up at 5am
 to build his strength and practice walking on his hands

Dedicated: As a child Tameru would crawl around on his belly
like a snake before trying to walk on his hands aged just seven

But at the age of just seven he started honing the art of walking on his hands in a bid to give himself more freedom.
He began by entertaining classmates with his skills and then went a step further by using his crutches and sticks to balance on.
For the last ten years, he has practised his remarkable ability relentlessly - getting up at 5am each day to build up his strength, balance and concentration.

Talent: Tameru began using his skill to entertain classmate before
aking it a step further and his his crutches to walk on

Tenacious: Now aged 30, Tameru still shows off his talent around the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa

Tameru, now aged 30, can travel long distances on his two sticks and even make his way down a flight of 50 steps with them, his legs high above him.
He had operations at the age of 15 to correct his leg and feet deformities and can walk upright for a short distance unaided.
But he continues to parade his skills around the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and hopes to show other disabled people how a positive attitude can change their lives.

Spirited: Tameru hopes to inspire other disabled people to overcome their problems

He said: 'I am disabled, but disabled people have talent. I can walk 75 metres along a field on sticks and I can walk down more than 50 steps.
'This is how I walk and it is normal for me. I am evolution.
'No-one has tried that before, so I can claim two records.'
He added: 'My grandfather told me that every human being has the right to two things - living and having dreams.
'I want to teach some of my stunts and tricks to normal and disabled people and give them motivation.'

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