A woman has shown that love can endure anything. The Chinese woman has touched many hearts with exceptional love and care she heaped on her sick husband.
Liu Conghua and her husband Guo Jiayin
The story of Liu Conghua and her husband Guo Jiayin is a sad one, and one that has seen an outpouring of sympathy for the couple in their adopted city of Hefei in east China’s Anhui Province.
Guo has motor neuron disease. He was a famous carpenter back home in Shandong Province in his youth, but was left quadriplegic after a fall.
Liu has been seeking treatment for Guo across China since 2006, a quest which has put the family deep in debt. In order to raise medical fees, they had no choice but to start begging on the streets.
The able-bodied Liu pushes her paralyzed husband around on a self-made handcart with all their belongings. The improvised vehicle was designed by Guo, but Liu had to teach herself welding to construct it from material picked up on their tramping around Hefei.
Liu and Guo have quite a reputation in the area, which helps explain why they have not moved to bigger, wealthier cities to beg. “The further away from home we get, the fewer people know us,” said Liu.
Many locals in Hefei bring the couple clothes, food and water.
“This woman is just so great! We can’t really be a big help, but we offer them lunch sometimes,” said a nearby restaurant owner.
A local clinic has also provided free treatment for Guo, helping him regain some feeling in his feet.
And with winter around the corner, the local media has set up a hotline for people to call and pledge help or donations for the couple.
There are thought to be more than 200,000 Chinese sufferers of motor neuron disease, for which there is no known cure. A medication called riluzole can slow the impact of the disease, but the tablets cost 50,000 to 60,000 yuan (9,000 US dollars) per year. Noninvasive ventilators and non-drug therapies can also help, but these are beyond the financial means of most patients in China, according to the Chinese Medical Association.