Prior to the State of the Union speech, I had never heard of this young man. But after President Trump told the story of Ji Seong-ho and introduced him, I found myself in tears. Especially after he hoisted his crutches aloft. What a great moment!

In case you missed it, Ji Seong-ho is a defector from North Korea, and his story is one of the most harrowing I’ve ever heard.

In March, 1996, when he was just 13 years old, young Ji was badly malnourished, but he joined other boys hopping on moving trains to steal coal. They then would trade the coal for food. Unfortunately, on this day Ji was so weak with malnutrition that he collapsed. He passed out on the tracks, only to wake and find that a train had passed over him. As a result his left leg was hanging by a strip of skin, and three fingers on his left hand were missing.

His younger brother brought him to a hospital in a cart. Then things got even worse. Not only did Ji lose his leg and left hand to amputation, he underwent the surgery without anesthesia. Here’s his story:

“The doctors were thinking whether they should let me die or if it was worth it to operate. My mom was pleading and crying, so they decided to operate.”

“On the operating table I could feel everything that was being done to my body. I was screaming at the top of my lungs. I felt the saw cutting into the bone of my leg, and the scalpel through my flesh. Every time I passed out from the pain the surgeon would slap my face to keep me awake. The whole hospital heard my screams.”

I just cannot imagine the horror.

For the next 10 months Ji’s father nursed him back to health. Once he was able to use crutches, Ji went back to desperately foraging for food, and sometimes that led him into China. One time North Korean authorities caught him, along with other hungry children. However, Ji noticed that the guards reserved the worst treatment for him. One agent told him why:

You went over to China hobbling on crutches. You’ve dishonored the leader by doing that in a foreign land. Sons of bitches like you are throwing mud on the face of our leader who is doing all he can to provide.

It was then that Ji decided to flee.

He trekked 6000 miles on crutches through China and Southeast Asia before he was finally able to get to South Korea.

Here is Ji’s amazing story, which he told to Business Insider late last year.

Today he runs a human-rights activist group in Seoul, South Korea, and uses Radio Free Asia to broadcast messages of hope into North Korea. It’s a shoestring operation, but he’s grateful, and very determined to help refugees. “I’m so grateful for all the blessings,” says Ji. “I’m living the life that all the disabled, homeless kids aren’t able to live in North Korea, so I have a great responsibility.”

Of course there were those who weren’t inspired by Ji’s story. For example, leftwing Vox said that was “the scariest part of Trump’s State of the Union.” Here’s what caused the writers at Vox to grab their blankies and head for their safe spaces:

The president described Ji Seong Ho’s suffering in excruciating detail, painting the North Korean government as an enemy of humanity — and of Christianity.

No shit, Sherlock. And ooh, Christianity! Trigger word!

They continued:

Trump’s recounting of Ji’s suffering served a very specific political purpose — to illustrate the core point of the speech’s discussion of North Korea: A country that mistreats its people so cruelly cannot be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons.

Thank you, Captain Obvious. Yet to Vox, being bold is a threat. On top of that, Trump’s words reminded them of . . . wait for it, Bush!

What is wrong with these people? If they can’t even honor the uplifting courage of this young man without injecting their Trump-hatred, they’re jaded beyond words.

As for me, I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that Ji Seong-ho’s tale of intrepid determination was one of the best parts of the State of the Union.