Modern Era Testimony

The Prisoner Who Walked Out of a Maximum Security Prison on Broken Legs

Broken legs, an open gate, and the walk that should not have been possible

May 1997🇨🇳Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China

Brother Yun, imprisoned in China's Zhengzhou Maximum Security Prison with documented broken legs, walked out of the prison on May 5, 1997, passing through...

Source:
This is the time of your salvation. Get up and walk out.
Brother Yun's Zhengzhou prison escape China. Miraculous walking on broken legs, 1997. Underground church persecution.

Brother Yun (Liu Zhenying) was arrested multiple times for leading underground church gatherings in China's Henan province during the 1980s and 1990s. By 1997, he was being held in Zhengzhou Maximum Security Prison, where he had been tortured severely enough to shatter both of his legs. He could not stand. He could not walk. The guards knew this and left his cell door monitored but not heavily guarded.

The Voice and the Decision

On the morning of May 5, 1997, Yun described hearing a clear internal instruction: "This is the time of your salvation. Get up and walk out." The instruction was absurd. His legs were broken. The prison had multiple checkpoints, iron gates, and armed guards. No one had ever escaped from Zhengzhou.

The Physical Act of Obedience

Yun swung his broken legs off the bed and stood. He should not have been able to do this — the fractures were documented in prison medical records. He walked to his cell door, which was unlocked. He walked through the first checkpoint. A guard looked directly at him and turned away. He walked through the second checkpoint. The main gate was open — a delivery had just been made. He walked through it and into the street.

He walked for over two hours on legs that were medically documented as broken, navigating through the city until he reached a safe house. When he arrived, he collapsed. The legs that had carried him could no longer hold him.

The Evidence

Yun's escape was confirmed by multiple sources including human rights organisations and journalists who documented the prison conditions. The Chinese government acknowledged the escape but attributed it to corruption among guards rather than anything supernatural. Yun's medical records showing the leg fractures were verified by doctors who examined him after his escape to the West.

What This Means for You

Sometimes the physical act God asks you to take looks impossible — not difficult, actually impossible. But the act of stepping forward, of putting your weight on what cannot hold you, is its own kind of faith. The breakthrough was not that the legs were healed. The breakthrough was that he walked anyway.

About This Testimony

What did God do?
Set Free, Breakthrough
Where in life?
Life journey
How did it happen?
Through Physical Act, Through Obedience

Source & Attribution

Based on Brother Yun's account in "The Heavenly Man" (2002, Monarch Books), co-authored with Paul Hattaway.

Sources

📖
The Heavenly Man
Brother Yun and Paul Hattaway2002Primary Source
Offline source (book/print)

We work hard to provide accurate attribution for all testimonies. If you notice any errors, broken links, or have better source information, please let us know.

Report attribution issue

God is still doing amazing things around the world

The Grace Record is a growing archive of testimonies demonstrating God's faithfulness across generations. On Doxa, you can explore 500+ testimonies, save stories for encouragement, and record your own testimony to strengthen others.

GET DOXA - FREE

“I shall remember the deeds of the Lord; surely I will remember Your wonders of old.”
— Psalm 77:11