Elderly Chinese woman 'walks 15 miles a day' to get disabled grandson to school

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-elderly-woman-disabled-grandson-15-miles-school-run-cerebral-palsy-shi-yuying-guangxi-province-a8174271.html

Version 0 of 1.

A grandmother in China reportedly walks 15 miles a day in order to make sure her wheelchair-bound grandson gets an education.

Shi Yuying makes eight daily trips pushing Jiang Haowen to and from his school in Guangxi Province, according to Huanqiu News. 

The 76-year-old told the website: “As long as I can push the child, we must persevere.” 

Ms Yuying said she has been doing the 1.86-mile school run for the past four years. She had to take Jiang in twice a day, in the morning and afternoon, and pick him up once at noon and once in the evening. For each trip she had to make the return journey.

 

Her nine-year-old grandson suffers from cerebral palsy, a lifelong brain condition that affects movement and co-ordination. It has left him unable to walk and in need of full-time care. 

His mother reportedly remarried, and his father left to find a work in a city in an attempt to support his family, leaving Ms Yuying as his only carer.

The pensioner first used a bike to push him to school, before the local authority provided a wheelchair in July. 

Ms Yuying told digital news platform Pear Video he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy aged two after his parents took him to a doctor worried that he could not walk.

Although Jiang was physically restricted, he was a smart child and particularly good at maths, Ms Yuying said.

The family reportedly racked up debts attempting to pay medical bills for his treatment.