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Medic mom’s gallantry inspires son’s college choice
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LI Congling will soon visit the central Chinese city of Wuhan again, not to fight COVID-19 this time, but to accompany her son to the university where she secretly had a photo taken five months ago.
When her son Yu Zongxi received the admission letter on August 26 from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, Li finally showed him the mobile phone photo, taken in front of the university gate.
“I kept it between myself and my husband, as I didn’t want to put pressure on my son before the exam,” Li said.
Li, 45, is a head nurse from the First Affiliated Hospital of the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, capital of Anhui Province. In mid-February, she joined other medical workers from Anhui to help treat infected patients in Wuhan.
“Although I was worried about my son who was preparing for gaokao (the national college entrance exam), I knew I did the right thing heading to Wuhan,” she said.
The annual exam is deemed the most important event for tens of millions of high school graduates, as it provides an opportunity to set the direction for their future careers.
“My son saw me off at the hospital. He was silent when I boarded the bus, but I knew he was worried about me as well,” Li recalled.
She was designated to the Union Hospital affiliated to the Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
To allow people to recognize each other, all medical workers had their names written on the back of their protective suits. Next to her name, Li had a few more words: “Yu Zongxi, you can make it in gaokao.”
While Li was battling the virus in Wuhan, her 18-year-old son was fighting his own battle, preparing for the exam at home.
“We cheered up each other on phone calls. The best we could do for each other was do our respective parts well so that the other would be less worried,” said Yu.
As his mom was working at the hospital, Yu started searching for information about the university online, developing a strong interest, and putting it on his ideal college list.
Under Li’s watch, all 71 patients in her wards recovered and were discharged from the hospital.
On the day before Li returned home in March, she paid a visit to the renowned university that her son often mentioned, and had her photo taken as a special way of wishing her son good luck in the exam.
Yu scored 668 points out of a full mark of 750 in gaokao, and was admitted by the university’s School of Optical and Electronic Information. He will register at the university on September 17, and the family of four, including his grandmother, have planned to head to Wuhan together.
“I’d like to have another photo taken at the same spot with my mom, and visit the hospital where she worked day and night,” said the young man.
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