Yao Ming off Crutches

Yao returned to Houston and was cleared to stop using crutches in his recovery from surgery to repair the stress fracture in his left foot.

"I just got agreement with Dr. (Tom) Clanton," Yao said before Thursday’s Yao Ming Roast and Toast to benefit the Leader’s Academy, a HISD charter school. "He said I could get rid of the crutches, which is very good news for me. I still need to wear the walking boot for a couple weeks, but at least I can walk by myself. My hands are not busy anymore."

If that is not quite the accomplishment he had hoped for this spring in the NBA or this summer in China, it is typical of how his life has changed. [Houston Chronicle]