A brilliant disabled teenager dubbed the ‘Chinese Stephen Hawking’ has started his studies at one of China’s most prestigious universities with his mother beside him as his full-time carer.
Xing Yifan, 18, started his studies in astronautics at the highly-respected Beihang University, previously known as Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, in the Chinese capital Beijing.
When just six months old, Yifan was diagnosed with congenital muscular dystrophy. Today, he only manages to hold his head up for short time periods and he weighs just 18 kilogrammes (2.83 stone), little more than the average four-year-old boy.
Yifan, who said he hopes to become the Chinese Stephen Hawking, needs a wheelchair to move around and has to spend most of his time in class lying down and learning by listening.
He said: “I always want to see how far I can go. I want to run forward a little more.”
In high school, his mother asked him if he wanted to move to a less-advanced class, but he said ‘no’, adding: “If I made it to this class, then I can finish it. I see no reason to quit.”
In China’s competitive university entrance exams, Yifan achieved 645 out of 750 and was accepted into the prestigious Beijing-based university.
He reportedly had the highest entrance grades of all students in his school in the city of Jilin, considered one of China’s finest.
During a normal 45-minute class, the intelligent young man can only remain seated for around half an hour due to his twisted spine and often has to support his head by resting his chin on the desk.
He spends the rest of the time in class lying down and learning by listening.
Despite his condition, his parents have always wanted to give him the same educational opportunities as everyone else his age.
His father Xing Dacheng said him and his wife took turns to sit by their son’s side in every class he took.
They also needed to wake up in the night every couple of hours to turn their son over.
Like his hero Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed with the motor neurone disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Yifan has so far managed to achieve excellent academic results in his studies.
His father said: “Every day is a challenge. It’s like a battle. We win when we spend the day smoothly.
“We dare not think about the future, but we’ll try hard to live well every day.”
Meanwhile, the university has organised a two-bedroom dormitory for the young man and his mother, at hand to take care of him full-time, which is based on the ground floor and has its own bathroom.
