A farmer has melted the hearts of thousands after taking his sick mother to hospital for treatment on his back for seven years.
Wang Kewu, from China, attaches his mother to his body using a rope and quilt, which his mother would have used to carry him as a baby. After that, he walks three miles with his mother on his back to a clinic.
‘She looked after me when I was little, now it’s my duty to look after her,’ said the 54-year-old man, who lives in the rural Wenzhou County, Yunnan Province.
Son of the year: Wang Kewu, from China, has carried his mother on his back using a rope and a quilt in order to take her to the hospital for seven years. The man walks three miles each way
The son has become an icon of dedication and fidelity after pictures and footage of him carrying his mother were circulated on social media.
Mr Wang is the sole carer for his 89-year-old mother, who suffers from high blood pressure and chronic stomach inflammation, according to a report on Yunnan.cn, the local news site.
The son needs to take her to the clinic at least once a month.
The report said Mr Wang has three siblings, but they divided the family’s assets more than 20 years ago.
Mr Wang and his siblings were said to agree that Mr Wang would look after their mother by himself.
Devotion: ‘She looked after me when I was little, now it’s my duty to look after her,’ said the 54-year-old man who is a farmer in the rural Wenzhou County, Yunnan Province
Touched: Mr Wang’s mother, 89, was moved by her son’s dedication. She said: ‘I carried him when he was little, now he’s carrying me. He’s the only one I could reply on’
Before 2010, doctors from one of the two local clinics were able to visit Mr Wang’s house to treat his mother.
However the two clinics were combined into one seven years ago, and due to a shortage of doctors, the home visits have been cancelled.
Since then, Mr Wang has apparently taken his mother to a clinic five kilometres (3.1 miles) from his home by carrying her on his back.
On the morning of October 16, an eyewitness was touched by Mr Wang’s behaviour and took pictures of the scenes. Mr Wang was taking his mother to the clinic to have an injection.
Mr Wang told a reporter from Pear Video that his mother was having a fever on the day.
Mr Wang’s mother suffers from high blood pressure and chronic stomach inflammation
The rope of love: Mr Wang uses a rope he’s had for 30 years to carry his mother. He used the same rope to carry his three children when they were little
He said: ‘If I put her on a motorbike, she would slide down because she didn’t have strength. The safest way was to secure her on my back using rope and carry her to the clinic.
‘After the treatment, I used the same way to take her home.’
Mr Wang’s mother was apparently touched by her son’s devotion.
She told Pear Video while lying on a hospital bed: ‘I carried him when he was little, now he’s carrying me. He’s the only one I could reply on.’
Mr Wang said the locals usually used the rope to carry small children.
He said he had kept the rope for 30 years and he had used them to carry his three children when they were little.
Being asked how he felt about being an internet icon, the humble man told The Paper: ‘This is my duty.
‘Parents raised us when we were young, we should take care of them when they become old.’