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Many urban dwellers complain about the timeliness and convenience of the public transport modes, which they used to ride when they went to school or work. However, they often forget that in fact they are very fortunate because they can travel with different types of public transportation available in urban areas. Some children living in suburban or rural areas spend many hours on foot, some even having to cross a mountain or river just to get to school.
Somewhere in the city of Yibin, Szechuan Province, China, a 66-year-old grandmother walks four kilometers - 2 miles a way - every day to take her disabled granddaughter to school. Tirelessly, she was carrying her grandchildren along the path around the mountains. And they are never late for school!
Fang Qiu Mei, who is now 14 years old, was born with an abnormal foot condition, which made her feel pain while standing. Fang was even able to stand for a few minutes with the help of crutches. Because of his condition, he has difficulty walking, and always needs help to move. As quoted from ETtoday, when Fang was only two years old, his father left home, and his mother remarried. Fang then handed over to his grandparents for treatment.
Unfortunately, such unfortunate fate does not want to get away from his life. His elderly and sick grandfather, making Fang and his grandfather very dependent on his grandmother. Fang's school entrance is 08.30. In order not to be late, grandma usually wakes up at 05.00 and then prepares everything Fang needed and herself during the trip. Grandma left home with Fang at precisely 07.00.
In order to see his grandson to study like a child his age, grandmother was willing to carry Fang for almost an hour and a half. He even had to travel about two kilometers to get to Fang's school. A strange friend on walking the 4km road on uneven mountain roads would certainly be an exhausting task, even for a healthy young man. Especially if it must be done by a 66-year-old grandmother. Not to mention, he also had to carry Fang, who weighed about 40 kg, and not including the weight of the girl's schoolbag.
The grandmother apparently has been doing the routine for the last five years, so if calculated he has traveled more than 4000 km. Because the condition of the body of the grandmother that is no longer fit, she and Fang will stop to rest at least five times during the trip. And, they always take the same route to return home. The greatness of her love for her granddaughter's grandchildren is expressed by her grandmother by saying that she always feels worried about Fang's future, because she and grandpa are old.
Grandma even admitted often woke up in the middle of the night because of the recurring nightmares. In his dream, the grandmother sees Fang slipping into a muddy puddle on his way to school and he tries to draw his grandson, but Fang can not reach his hand. Fang is not unaware that the journey is certainly exhausting for his elderly grandmother. For that, he tried to hold his weight with two bamboo crutches made by his grandmother. The crutch will hold her back when her grandmother starts to feel tired.
To pay for his grandmother's struggle, Fang promised to study harder, so that his grandmother's efforts were not in vain. Luckily, after their story was published to the media, the local government had moved the family to a house near Fang's school. They also prepared a wheelchair for Fang, so he could move more freely, without having to continue to depend on his grandmother. The government has also asked local medical institutions to see if there is any hope for Fang to walk again.