He is disabled while his father is paralyzed but he is the primary care giver for his father because he cannot afford to pay a care-giver from the about $110 subsidy allowance, which he receives monthly from the Chinese authorities.
Although 36-year-old Zhang Xiaodong can only move his hands and arms, using his motorized wheelchair, he mops the floor, goes to the market to shop for groceries, prepares his father’s meals, feeds him as well as help him wash his face in a moving display of deep love.
In the midst of his daily schedule, he finds time to care for himself too.
His determination is unmissable. His refusal to indulge in pity parties is also unmissable from the report. From his social media activities, some volunteers have been moved to visit him and his dad from time to time bearing various gifts. He is hoping that he can someday afford surgery that will help repair his joints. And put him in a position to give better care to his father.
Yet how much of the above would he have been able to accomplish without the motorized wheelchair? While we commend his doggedness and loving displays, we must be grateful for the minds and creators that considered the design and production of motorized wheelchairs that make it easy for persons with disability to move about more freely than otherwise would have been the case.