Yu Xukang, 40, is a single father who works as a farmer to support his 12-year-old son, Xiao Qiang.
Xiao suffers from a crippling disorder that has rendered his arms and legs twisted and his back hunched. At three feet tall, Xiao has difficulty walking.The pair lives in the Sichuan Province in China, however Yu found it difficult to find a nearby school that could accommodate his son.
“I know that my son is physically disabled but there is nothing wrong with his mind,” Yu said in a statement to Central European News, “However, I couldn’t find any school here with the facilities to accept him and he was constantly rejected.”
When Fengxi Primary School accepted Xiao there was no doubt in Yu’s mind what was do be done, despite the fact that the school was located four and a half miles from his home.
Beginning last September, Yu woke up at 5am each day, secured Xiao to his back in a basket and carried the young boy across rugged terrain to school.
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Yu would then journey home to farm, only to return again to pick up his boy in the afternoon. This made for an 18-mile round trip, and Yu estimates that he has walked a total of 1,600 miles since he undertook the endeavor.
Since this story has come to light, authorities intervened and procured a small room near the school for the father and son duo. Xiao is excelling at his new school, and Yu hopes his son will one day attend college.
via HuffingtonPost, Top Photo Courtesy: CEN
