Devoted daughter has taken care of her ‘vegetative state’ father for 15 years and says looking after him is her pleasure
- Li Qin in China quit her job to care for her paralysed father after her mother died
- She wipes his body, feeds him, cleans his waste and gives him massages daily
- Ms Li says she feels lucky to have a father and cherishes the time spent with him
- Her biggest wish is to hear the bed-bound parent call her name one more time
A loving daughter has touched the hearts of millions of people after taking care of her bed-bound father wholeheartedly for 15 years.
Dedicated Li Qin from China quit her job as a manager of a company to be the sole carer of her sick parent, who is in a vegetative state.
She sleeps only three hours a night on average to attend to the man, who needs his body turned, limbs rubbed and waste cleaned up every two hours.
Li Qin from China carries her father around, wipes her father’s body, feeds him and cleans up his waste multiple times a day. Her father was knocked into a vegetative state by a stroke
Ms Li says it is her pleasure to look after her father and she feels lucky to have him as a parent. She says her biggest wish was to hear her father call her nickname, Ya Ya, once more
Even though life has posed such a challenge for Ms Li, she counts herself lucky because of the time she gets to spend with her father.
She told local media: ‘I can say that I feel most happy during the 15 years I spent with my father.
‘I always feel lucky that I have a father. It’s not that he cannot live without me, but quite the opposite.’
She says her biggest wish was to hear her father call her nickname, Ya Ya, once more.
Ms Li and her father live in Bo’ai County of Jiaozuo city in central China’s Henan Province.
It is said that her father was knocked into a vegetative state by a stroke. He is unable to move his body or talk and can only communicate with others by blinking his eyes or whining.
In 2015, Ms Li started to build a garden for her father because he liked flowers and plants before falling ill. ‘I didn’t have money at the time, so I used recycled materials,’ she explained
Ms Li, who is in her late 30s, used to be a deputy manager of a company. But after her mother died, she quit her job to look after her paralysed father full time.
She carries him around, wipes her father’s body, feeds him and cleans up his waste multiple times a day without complaint.
To give the best care to her father, she has slept in the same room as her father all these years and gets up every two hours to check on him.
Her moving story has featured on several Chinese media outlets, including The Paper, BTV and Pear Video.
Ms Li, who remains unmarried, considers it a pleasure to look after her father.
She said: ‘As long as my father is alive, I am still a child. Therefore I am lucky.
‘Even though my father has not spoken a word with me in all those years, I can understand every single expression in his eyes.’
The devoted daughter says she believes her father understands her well even though he cannot speak. She also thanks her father for teaching her to be a strong and resilient person
In 2015, Ms Li started to build a garden for her father because he liked flowers and plants before falling ill.
‘I told myself even if one was ill, he or she should not live a low-quality life,’ she noted.
‘I didn’t have money at the time, so I used recycled materials and spent about two years building the garden for my father.
‘Our garden is called Ya Ya Garden (after her nickname).’
The devoted daughter says she believes her father understands her well even though he cannot speak. She also thanks her father for teaching her to be a strong and resilient person.
‘My wish is that one day he could call me “Ya Ya” again.
‘No matter what happens, I want him to be by my side, and I will be by his side forever. I wish my father could live a healthy and long life,’ she said.