Lu Shunling, now 78 years old, spends considerable time in a wheel chair and doesn't speak as well as she once did, but that doesn't stop her from teaching her innovative Lu's Massage to help children with cerebral palsy.

Lu, sometimes called Shanghai's Mother Teresa, after the late nun who worked with the poor in Kolkata (Calcutta), is herself a cerebral palsy patient who overcame her own disability, taught herself to walk at age 30, and went on to treat and inspire others.

Children call her "a po," meaning granny in Shanghai dialect.

Shanghai Daily talked to Lu recently at the CereCare Wellness Center, a facility in Xuhui District she established especially for children with CP, a debilitating disorder that leaves them unable to control their muscles and movement. Many have normal or above-average intelligence.

Cerebral palsy is caused by damage to one or more areas of the brain, usually during fetal development, or before the child is three years of age. The damage disrupts the brain's ability to control movement and posture. With early physical rehabilitation and learning, many patients can go on to live relatively normal lives.

Through her treatment, combining traditional Chinese acupressure massage and western methods of conductive education, many bedridden children are able to stand up, walk and communicate.

Because Lu Shunling's own speech is impaired with age, her younger sister Lu Shunmei served as her interpreter.

"My sister still comes to the children's home almost every day," said Shunmei, who also attends to her older sister's daily needs. "Though she can't speak much, she is still quick. She still teaches and cares for the children." Mostly she watches and corrects teachers by example.

The residential facility is home to around 30 children between the ages of two and 18, who receive treatment through both massage and what's known as conductive education, combining group physical exercise with learning.

"Children love her, they visibly light up when seeing her," the younger sister said.

Next year a branch will be opened in Songjiang District. Two treatment centers in the Philippines and one in the United States are under discussion.

"The more people get treatment the better, and that makes me happier," Lu Shunling murmured.

So far, Lu has taught her massage system to two people, who have passed them on to eight other teachers.

Heroic "a po"

Lu's personal story is heroic. Most cerebral palsy patients are not able to walk if they cannot sit up at the age of five. Lu was 18 when she was diagnosed and 30 when she learned to walk independently. She even went to university, and studied premed, successfully turning in assignments on a typewriter, since she could not hold a pen or brush to write. But she could not take exams in which typewriters were not permitted, so she could not receive a diploma.

Born in Shanghai into a rich business family, Lu was the eldest of six children and her mother was pregnant for a year before giving birth.

"At that time, people believed that babies born after their due date would be very smart," her sister said. That turned out to be true, but her abilities were not recognized for a long time.

For many years, she was unable even to sit up and the family had no idea about her ailment. Clearly, coming from a family with resources was a great benefit and Lu did receive an education.

From a very young age, Lu realized she was different since other children could play outside but she was bedridden. She dreamed of walking.

"I don't want to be a redundant person," she once said.

After the diagnosis when she was 18, her mother took her to Hong Kong for treatment through both traditional Chinese and western medicine.

Massage seemed to help the most and she went to several masseurs, asking them to teach her so that she could help herself, but no one was willing to share and jealously guarded their techniques.

"They all said the skills were passed down from their ancestors, calling them family treasures that could not be given to people outside the family," Lu said, speaking through her sister. "So I learned massage by heart while I was receiving it. I summarized techniques and developed my own method."

She eventually was able to sit, stand and walk. There were no walkers at the time, so to practice walking, she put bags of sand into a baby stroller and walked around the park again and again. Many people thought she was a despondent mother who had lost a child.

At age 30, she could walk independently. She started a walking journey, setting out from her home on Anfu Road in Xuhui District and going all the way down to Dashijie in Huangpu District, almost 4 kilometers. It takes most people 50 to 60 minutes; it took Lu a lot longer.

She walked every day, avoiding crowded sidewalks, usually going out at midday or after sunset. Later she rode a tricycle around her neighborhood. Sui Guiqin, then a five-year-old neighbor with cerebral palsy, had no idea that the woman on the tricycle would one day change her life and change her mind about suicide.

In the 1980s, Lu studied at then Shanghai Television University (today's Shanghai Open University), where she was a premed major. Later she worked as a tutor but had always wanted to do something for children with cerebral palsy.

Her own technique

At that time, many parents tried in vain to find effective treatments for their children with CP and when they learned that Lu Shunling knew effective massage, they asked her to help. She was always glad to go to their homes on her tricycle and give free massage.

In 1993, Shunling read a newspaper story about a family who could not afford treatment for a child with cerebral palsy. The father left a suicide note and disappeared. Lu was astonished and invited the child to her home for massage treatments.

That inspired her to open her Western-style home on Anfu Road, renovating the garage into a treatment room with two beds. Through year 2000, nearly 20 children received treatment there, including Sui Guiqin, the neighbor girl with CP who had spotted Lu on a tricycle many years before.

"I was a desperate patient and even considered suicide since I felt like a social outcast," Sui said. "When I was introduced to Lu, my memory came alive - it was her!"

From then on Sui became both Lu's patient and pupil. Today she is a masseuse specializing in Lu's Massage at the children's home.

"I always admire her because she's stronger and more persevering than me," Sui told Shanghai Daily. "Sometimes I am too lazy for physical exercise, but she never quits. I could never reach her level."

More to help

In 2000, Lu Shunmei, who had immigrated to Canada, returned to Shanghai to visit her older sister. What she saw in the garage treatment room made her think it was time to help more children.

"One child couldn't even sit up when she first arrived and looked like a boneless caterpillar," Shunmei said. "After my sister gave her massage for two months, she could sit up and later she could walk. So I asked Shunling, why not try to do more?"

Lu Shunling liked the idea. She sold two Western-style houses she inherited from her parents in Xuhui District for 10 million yuan (US$1.6 million) and bought an apartment for herself. The rest of the money was used to open the children's center with the help of her sister. In 2009, when the home faced a financial crisis, she moved to a smaller apartment. Now she lives near the Shanghai Botanical Garden, which is near the children's center.

"At that time, I always worried that people would not know there was such a place to help children with cerebral palsy. I thought no one would come and said maybe we should give up," Lu Shunling said.

But news of the effective massage had spread by word of mouth. One by one, parents sent their children, but most children were, and still are orphans or abandoned children sent by welfare homes.

"We are basically the last hope for families seeking treatment and some have tried many places, even going abroad, before they came here," Lu Shunling said. It's comforting that their children could get better in China, she said.

Many children in the home were abandoned by their entire families. "There are few real orphans in China because even if parents die, relatives take care of children. But with CP children, entire families give up," she said.

Children do not only receive massage. They are also taught to be independent and rely on themselves because one day they will truly be on their own. They are encouraged to walk with walkers or by using walls and railings. Teachers give instruction and can be strict, observing that some children have fairly strong limbs but are afraid to try to walk.

Lu Shunling observes everything. Although she doesn't say much, she observes teachers as they give massage and instruct. When a masseuse makes an incorrect move, Lu corrects her and gives an example of correct technique.

She said her dream is simple: helping more children. And as long as she has the energy, she will pass on her skills.

"To me, happiness doesn't mean enjoying a happy life oneself," she struggled to say through her sister.

"Happiness means making other people happy and making big efforts for others. It isn't about being given things by others."


Massage treatment

Acupressure massage not only soothes muscles but also adjusts and improves the condition of organs, according to therapists treating cerebral palsy patients.

Acupressure is an ancient form of healing that stimulates acupuncture points in traditional Chinese medicine, but does not use needles. Masseuse Sui Guiqin at the children's center says different acupuncture points are massaged to deal with different symptoms. Each session lasts around 45 minutes. It's not a cure.

"The basic techniques are the same as ordinary techniques, but it's important that we target the remedy to the case." For example, if a child has a poor appetite, massage focuses on the gallbladder and spleen channel in TCM to stimulate appetite. Massage is widely considered helpful among doctors east and west.

Sun Chengyan, a cerebral palsy expert at Huashan Hospital, said treatment requires a long-term combination of western medicine and TCM. Massage and acupuncture play important roles in recovery, he said. "Patients are not expected to recover fully just from surgery. In the recovery period, massage can help remit the spasms and restore balance of muscles."

CereCare Wellness Center

Tel: 5439-4328

Address: 25, Changqiao No.8 Community Neighborhood, Luoxiu Rd