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

'As long as I can push the child, we must persevere'

Tom Embury-Dennis
Tuesday 23 January 2018 17:42 GMT
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Shi Yuying walks 15 miles a day to take her grandson to school
Shi Yuying walks 15 miles a day to take her grandson to school

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.

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