Chen Yurong, the "power-walking mother," was tending to her vegetable garden. Photo by journalist Yang Fan. At dawn, Chen Yurong put on her small cloth shoes and walked through her vegetable patch, taking a few quick strides to reach the main path.
At this time, the Tanjiaji embankment was sparsely populated with pedestrians. As people passed by, most would greet Chen Yurong, saying, "Good morning, power-walking mother!" Some familiar ones even joined her for a walk, but soon only Chen Yurong was left: her speed and intensity were too much for ordinary people to keep up with.
Some changes have occurred: after donating her liver to her son, both her body and her son's are gradually recovering; the traces of plastic surgery are no longer obvious; and the flood of interview requests has dwindled significantly.
After another morning of brisk walking, Chen Yurong carried two buckets of manure back home, then returned to her vegetable garden to plant leeks for her son. Except for the nickname "power-walking mother" that people still often mention, Chen Yurong has once again adapted to her originally simple life.
**Original News Point**: Power-walking mother, real name Chen Yurong, born in 1954, is from Wuhan, Hubei Province, and is the mother of Ye Haibin, who suffers from congenital liver dysfunction. Due to repeated episodes of his condition, Chen Yurong decided to donate her liver to save her son’s life, but due to severe fatty liver disease, she was not suitable for the transplant surgery.
To fulfill her wish to save her son, despite having severe fatty liver disease, she started a daily 10-kilometer power-walking exercise plan. After seven months of brisk walking on the Tanjiaji embankment in Jiang'an District, Wuhan, she cured her fatty liver disease. On November 3, 2009, Chen Yurong underwent liver segmentectomy surgery, followed by her son Ye Haibin receiving the liver transplant surgery.
In the citation for being selected as one of the Most Moving Chinese in 2009, it was written: "This was a marathon of fortune. She endured hunger and fatigue, never stopping her steps. Heaven tested human affection with illness, and she responded by giving blood and flesh, enduring hardship, and holding onto faith. She is a mother, and she must win; her footsteps measured out an immense bond of affection."
She longs for simplicity.
Her phone is only turned on once a month.
“Have you had breakfast? Is it cold in Shenyang? I heard on the news that some places there have already seen snow.” As soon as she saw the journalist, Chen Yurong began asking about their well-being. Her one trip to Shenyang left a deep impression on her, “I love listening to your dialect, it sounds so close, and the people there are especially genuine. Shenyang is the farthest place I've ever been to, and also where I stayed the longest, leaving a deep impression.”
That was in July 2010 when Chen Yurong and her son Ye Haibin went to Shenyang to participate in a power-walking competition. This was eight months after she donated part of her liver to her son. During the surgery, she gave 40% of her liver to her son, and the remaining part in her body has now grown to the size of a normal person's liver.
At that time, it was also the period when Chen Yurong received the most invitations. Newspaper interviews, TV talk shows, various types of selection activities took her all over the country, flying everywhere. Before this, she had never left Wuhan, but suddenly she visited many cities. That year, because of her power-walking actions, she was hired by the Organizing Committee of the 6th World Walking Congress as the "Image Ambassador" for that edition of the "Walking Congress."
"At that time, the organizing units required me and my son to participate together. Although I recovered well, my son still had strong reactions, and sometimes his body couldn't keep up." Chen Yurong wanted to slow down this fast-paced life after becoming famous and return to her own life, but things weren't that simple, and controversies arose.
A netizen posted before-and-after pictures of Chen Yurong's plastic surgery, which immediately plunged her into a whirlpool of public opinion. Some netizens even questioned, "She used the donations from the public to undergo plastic surgery." A credibility crisis quickly overshadowed the halo above her head.
From initially strongly denying it to finally admitting it, Chen Yurong went through a struggle, "I admit I made a mistake, but I didn't touch a single cent of the donated money." Later, Chen Yurong said that it was a beauty institution in Qinhuangdao that provided her with free plastic surgery, with the condition that she would shoot documentary films, advertisements, promotional videos, and attend promotional events for the beauty salon. Chen Yurong received 30,000 yuan in endorsement fees, and in her words, "I just wanted to save more money for my son."
Whenever she talks about this, Chen Yurong always sighs, "Nowadays, my husband goes out to work, and he regularly calls me. Normally, my phone is only turned on once a month. Usually, if something happens at home, they call the community, and the community people come to notify me." The day before our reporter visited her home, she had just declined an invitation from a TV station to appear on a program, "Honestly, I'm scared. I don't want to appear anymore, less talking means fewer mistakes. All I need to do is take good care of my son."
She loves her son more.
She never says anything to provoke him.
The day before seeing Chen Yurong, her son Ye Haibin had just been discharged from the hospital, suffering from kidney stones. From home to the nearest hospital, in a month, Chen Yurong didn't know how many times she had run back and forth. "Although the liver transplant surgery was successful, he still needs injections to prevent rejection. Every month, he needs 15 shots. When the reaction is severe, he catches colds and fevers, at least twice a week. Nausea leads to vomiting, and he can't eat a single bite of food," said Chen Yurong. One cold costs 100 yuan, and a bottle of anti-rejection medicine costs 84 yuan.
With a 900-yuan retirement pension, it's not enough for food, and when her son's rejection reaction is severe, this money might be gone instantly. To earn more money for her son, her husband Ye Guoxiang had to go to the county town to deliver oil, staying away for a whole month, returning home to rest for two days, handing over his 2000-yuan salary, and then going out to work again... "We try to mention these things as little as possible in front of our son, just in case he worries too much," said Chen Yurong. Her son is introverted and feels dependent on his parents and family since falling ill, unable to play the role of a man, leading to a consistently low mood. Sometimes when he argues with his wife, she unintentionally says things like "Other men can share some household chores," and Chen Yurong has to mediate, making her daughter-in-law understand his perspective and avoid saying anything that might provoke him.
Ye Haibin often locks himself in his room and doesn't like to come out. On sunny days with light wind, Chen Yurong takes her son out for a walk to relax. When newspapers arrive, she reads them to her son, telling him jokes she hears, sharing interesting stories from TV programs, or first telling them to her granddaughter, who then tells her father. "If I tell him, he might not like it, but if my daughter tells him, it's different," said Chen Yurong.
When we met Chen Yurong, she had just carried two baskets of manure back from the embankment, a weight that even some men couldn't handle, but she managed to bring it home. It was for planting vegetables, "Nowadays, many vegetables are sprayed with pesticides. My son's health isn't good, so he can't eat unhealthy things. Moreover, some foods counteract each other, so I have to learn to grow and match them myself."
As she spoke, she led the reporter to a vegetable plot outside the embankment, a small piece of land she had just cultivated, already lush and green. Inside, she grew cabbage, radishes, and leeks. With the surplus harvest, she shared it with her neighbors. A newly dug basket of sweet potatoes in the warehouse became dinner that night.
She hopes for a better future.
Raise her granddaughter to take care of her son instead.
The granddaughter went to kindergarten, and Chen Yurong changed her walking time to the evening. After preparing dinner for her son's family of three and washing the dishes, she would then go out to walk. Since the transplant surgery was completed, she no longer needed the previous large amount of exercise, so she changed her power-walking to a regular walk.
Though the speed has slowed down, she still completes 5 kilometers within one hour and five minutes. While walking on the embankment, she often encounters people greeting her. Locals naturally recognize her, and some strangers who have seen her picture on the news will stop to ask, "Are you the power-walking mother?" Upon confirmation, they all give her a thumbs-up.
Every day, there are neighbors accompanying her. Though they remind her to take smaller steps, they often fall behind and can't keep up with her.
Someone asked, "Do you find walking for more than an hour every day boring? What do you think about while walking?" Chen Yurong replied, "I don't really think about anything, I've gotten used to walking fast. Walking every day makes me healthier and gives me more energy to take care of my son. That's the benefit."
While knitting a sweater for her granddaughter and chatting with the reporter, white hair was clearly visible at the roots, "My hair turns gray early, making me look particularly old, right?"
Chen Yurong said that although their house was built in 2008, it coincided with her son's illness, massive bleeding, and all her attention was on her son, leaving no time to take care of the house, which was fully entrusted to her nephew. Three years have passed, and many parts of the house are still unfinished.
Even though they have received more than 300,000 yuan in donations over the past few years, Chen Yurong hasn't bought any furniture for the house or even a piece of clothing for herself. "I live my whole life for my son, it was like that before he got sick, and it's even more so now. I don't care about myself anymore," said Chen Yurong.
The TV is nearby but rarely turned on, sometimes even forgotten for a whole day, "All day long, I feel exhausted, without the strength to even press the remote control."
Every morning, after preparing breakfast for her granddaughter and sending her to the nearby kindergarten, watching her skip happily into the classroom is Chen Yurong's happiest moment every day, "My current task is also to take good care of my granddaughter. Some say I have a hard life. I tell them, it may seem that way, but I still have my granddaughter. I will raise her well, and when I pass away, let her take care of her father..."
Dialogue with Chen Yurong
A mother should work hard for her son all her life
Reporter: The hardest times are over, and everything is starting to improve.
Chen Yurong: Yes, currently, at least the liver transplant was successful, but there are still rejection issues. Recovery is actually more difficult than surgery. Surgery ends quickly, but recovery might last a lifetime, and all of this requires our whole family to endure.
Reporter: From being initially noticed, gaining some fame, facing some doubts, including matters like plastic surgery, to now, with less media attention and returning to her own life, does she adapt?
Chen Yurong: This is the life I should live. Where does all the grandeur come from? Taking care of my son, I can do anything. Look at all the vegetables I grow, I find it meaningful. My son eats healthily, I work the land, and see the sweat flowing down, my heart feels beautiful.
Reporter: Both short-term and long-term goals are for her son.
Chen Yurong: As a mother, shouldn't you work hard for your son all your life? His health is poor, so I worry more and guide him more. A healthy, harmonious family, what else could I ask for?
Just like "When it gets cold, remember to add clothes." "Come home early for dinner." These might be the simplest words in the world, yet they are the maternal admonishments or even nagging that deeply move us. A mother willing to sacrifice herself for her son, though her words may not startle, still profoundly touches the heart.
"My son will be as healthy as you."
"My son has been sick for 18 years, I need to give him a liver."
"I'm not afraid of anything. For a woman, nothing is scarier than losing a child!"
"If I walk one more step, eat one less bite, the day to save my son will be closer."
"If I still can't donate this time, I will keep walking."
"All my life is for my son. If he's fine, I'm fine, regardless of how hard it is along the way."
Special Correspondent Yang Fan (Weibo)