7-Year-Old Boy Takes Care of His Paralyzed Dad After Mom Abandoned Them

Children are fortunate if they are born with loving parents. Parents, on the other hand, are blessed if their children grow up to be caring, selfless, and loving as well.

Ou Yanglin is an ordinary boy who lives with his father in Wangpu village in Guizhou province, southwest China. This first grader wakes up at six in the morning every day to take care of his father. He has been doing this for over a year, teaching himself how to cook rice, buying vegetables at a local market, and feeding his dad before going to school.

Ou Tongming, the boy’s 37-year-old father, is paralyzed from the waist down. In June 2013, he fell from the second floor of a house that was under construction and injured his spine.

Eventually, his wife took their 3-year-old daughter with her and abandoned him and Ou Yanglin when the poverty-stricken family exhausted their savings due to the pile of medical bills. Sadly, Tongming’s condition did not improve.

Since then, Yanglin took care of his father on his own. After school, he goes out on the street to search for scraps. He earns at least 20 yuan or $4 every day, which he uses to add to his father’s 300 RMB or $AU66 monthly disability benefits.

“My father needs medicine, but I don’t have any money,” Yanglin said.

Yanglin turns his father on his side and administers medicine to his body as soon as he returns home. His father contracted bedsores, which ulcerated due to immobility. Consequently, the infection spread to his pelvis.

As a father, Tongming thought of how he burdened his dear son. He was on the verge of committing suicide, but he reconsidered when he realized he’ll be leaving his son alone.

Yanglin, however, only wants to “grow up soon” so he could earn money for his father’s treatment.

“I can’t live without my father,” Yanglin said.

Yanglin’s story touched several people. Some of them thought of raising a charity fund to help the boy and his father.

What can you say about this story? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

H/T: Youth Daily, Shanghaiist, Daily Mail