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The very bright student who always had to study from home
By Staff Reporters |
February 28, 2009, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CHEN Lei, 29, lies quietly in her bedroom. She underwent a nine-hour operation in Changhai Hospital on November 26, and 21 steel pins were planted into her spine to correct its curvature which may kill her.
Her 64-year-old father Chen Jian is full of pride for his outstandingly brave daughter.
Chen contracted poliomyelitis when she was very young. After studying in a primary school in Shanghai for three years, she went to Hefei, Anhui Province, where her parents worked, and studied there eventually graduating from university.
But no matter where she studied, the only relationship between her and her school was her name on the school examination list. She got to the examinations every year and always came top of class. But those were the only times she went to the classroom.
Chen Lei's home was her classroom, and all her world.
Chen's father, who graduated from Xi'an Jiao Tong University, never expected his daughter to achieve much, all he wanted for her was health.
The only help he offers her with her study is to buy the text books she asks for.
"She arranges her own research," he said. "My daughter is always reading in her wheelchair."
Even when she was too ill to use a wheelchair she read in bed. She learned to use computers by herself. "She spends a great deal of time studying," he said.
Chen Jian remembers when Chen Lei was very young she would sit in her wheelchair, exchanging stories with her younger brother. She wrote novels and illustrated them.
No one knows where the inspiration or the imagination for her exciting and colorful stories comes from.
Her parents encouraged her studies and welcomed her classmates when they came to visit her and the teachers who popped in to give occasional lessons. Once a lonely girl she is no longer lonely.
When she was in senior high school, the vice mayor of Hefei, who was in charge of education, learned about her. When he discovered that Chen Lei wanted to go to college, he contacted the province.
Finally, two vice governors of Anhui Province who were in charge of the education and the disabled respectively gave permission for her to sit for the college entrance examination. In 1995, she entered Anhui University and majored in Science English.
Chen Jian says that his daughter is the first disabled student to attend Anhui University. Her letter of admission was brought to her home by the vice-governor himself. As usual she finished her courses at home and graduated successfully.
When Chen Lei's 88-year-old grandmother talks about her granddaughter, the most frequently occurring word is thanks - thanks to community of Huamei Garden, thanks to the doctors, thanks to the disabled federation.
In 1998, she returned to Shanghai and the local disabled persons' federation helped her get a job as a translator.
She can do the work from home. Although it does not pay well, translation is an easy work for her and by now, she has translated more than 1 million words.
After she came to Shanghai, her health deteriorated. In 2007, the deformed spine began squeezing her heart and threatened her life. Her lungs were too weak for her to be operated on at that time.
Her doctor suggested she practise blowing bubbles into a bottle to exercise her lungs.
"This is the bottle she blew bubbles into - she kept this up for a year," her grandmother said, proudly taking out a glass bottle.
In the hospital room there are three beds. Chen Lei was lying on the middle bed and her wheelchair was in the corner. It has been apart from its owner for a long time.
Chen Lei said that she has learned from the Internet that it will take her at least six months to recover from the operation, and several years to recover completely.
Even after years of suffering she remains optimistic and has a happy smiles.
Asked about her future, she said: "I haven't thought too much about it. I hope I can sit up as soon as possible, maybe even sit on my wheelchair and go outside to enjoy the spring sun."
Her 64-year-old father Chen Jian is full of pride for his outstandingly brave daughter.
Chen contracted poliomyelitis when she was very young. After studying in a primary school in Shanghai for three years, she went to Hefei, Anhui Province, where her parents worked, and studied there eventually graduating from university.
But no matter where she studied, the only relationship between her and her school was her name on the school examination list. She got to the examinations every year and always came top of class. But those were the only times she went to the classroom.
Chen Lei's home was her classroom, and all her world.
Chen's father, who graduated from Xi'an Jiao Tong University, never expected his daughter to achieve much, all he wanted for her was health.
The only help he offers her with her study is to buy the text books she asks for.
"She arranges her own research," he said. "My daughter is always reading in her wheelchair."
Even when she was too ill to use a wheelchair she read in bed. She learned to use computers by herself. "She spends a great deal of time studying," he said.
Chen Jian remembers when Chen Lei was very young she would sit in her wheelchair, exchanging stories with her younger brother. She wrote novels and illustrated them.
No one knows where the inspiration or the imagination for her exciting and colorful stories comes from.
Her parents encouraged her studies and welcomed her classmates when they came to visit her and the teachers who popped in to give occasional lessons. Once a lonely girl she is no longer lonely.
When she was in senior high school, the vice mayor of Hefei, who was in charge of education, learned about her. When he discovered that Chen Lei wanted to go to college, he contacted the province.
Finally, two vice governors of Anhui Province who were in charge of the education and the disabled respectively gave permission for her to sit for the college entrance examination. In 1995, she entered Anhui University and majored in Science English.
Chen Jian says that his daughter is the first disabled student to attend Anhui University. Her letter of admission was brought to her home by the vice-governor himself. As usual she finished her courses at home and graduated successfully.
When Chen Lei's 88-year-old grandmother talks about her granddaughter, the most frequently occurring word is thanks - thanks to community of Huamei Garden, thanks to the doctors, thanks to the disabled federation.
In 1998, she returned to Shanghai and the local disabled persons' federation helped her get a job as a translator.
She can do the work from home. Although it does not pay well, translation is an easy work for her and by now, she has translated more than 1 million words.
After she came to Shanghai, her health deteriorated. In 2007, the deformed spine began squeezing her heart and threatened her life. Her lungs were too weak for her to be operated on at that time.
Her doctor suggested she practise blowing bubbles into a bottle to exercise her lungs.
"This is the bottle she blew bubbles into - she kept this up for a year," her grandmother said, proudly taking out a glass bottle.
In the hospital room there are three beds. Chen Lei was lying on the middle bed and her wheelchair was in the corner. It has been apart from its owner for a long time.
Chen Lei said that she has learned from the Internet that it will take her at least six months to recover from the operation, and several years to recover completely.
Even after years of suffering she remains optimistic and has a happy smiles.
Asked about her future, she said: "I haven't thought too much about it. I hope I can sit up as soon as possible, maybe even sit on my wheelchair and go outside to enjoy the spring sun."
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