Mailman Yang Guozhen. Yang Guozhen came to visit Aunt Liu. The elderly woman has difficulty walking.
Aunt Liu, an elderly woman in her seventies living in the Dexin neighborhood on Tianhe East Road, has suffered from rheumatoid arthritis for over 40 years. Her hand and foot joints have severely twisted and deformed. Recently, she fell a few times, causing her whole body to ache and her legs to continuously ooze pus. Because her daughter emigrated to the U.S. many years ago and never returned, and her husband, who is over eighty years old, is unable to take care of her, the elderly woman who has difficulty moving hasn't gone downstairs for more than eight years. After kind-hearted mailman Yang Guozhen learned about the elderly woman's situation by chance, he often took time out of his busy schedule to take care of her, buying vegetables and making soup for her.
By reporter Guo Xiaohao
Correspondent Xie Jing
Photographed by reporter Luo Changwei
The elderly woman suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and has difficulty walking.
The mailman appeals for more people to pay attention to the elderly woman and other seniors with mobility issues.
Accumulating small acts of kindness to form great virtue, we welcome readers to report good deeds around them.
Aunt Liu, an elderly woman in her seventies living in the Dexin neighborhood on Tianhe East Road, has suffered from rheumatoid arthritis for over 40 years. Her hand and foot joints have severely twisted and deformed, causing pain like being cut by a knife. Even after taking painkillers at night, she often can't sleep through the night. Because her daughter emigrated to the U.S. many years ago and never returned, and her husband, who is over eighty years old, is unable to take care of her, the elderly woman who has difficulty moving hasn't gone downstairs for more than eight years. She fully relies on the kind-hearted mailman Yang Guozhen to take time out of his busy schedule to take care of her, buying vegetables and making soup for her. "These years, I owe so much to Xiao Yang. Whenever I have difficulties, I find him." Mr. Yang wants to appeal through our newspaper, hoping everyone can help Aunt Liu and provide as much help as possible to seniors with mobility issues.
Joint deformation causes excruciating pain, skin infection.
"My rheumatoid arthritis started in June 1964, and it got worse and worse, gradually losing my ability to work." When reporters visited Aunt Liu's home recently, located on the 8th floor of a unit in the Dexin neighborhood on Tianhe East Road, we saw that the elderly woman in her seventies was extremely thin, with her hand and foot joints severely twisted and deformed. Her fingers and toes are almost all twisted together. "When the pain gets bad, I can't sleep, and I can only take painkillers to slightly alleviate it." Although Aunt Liu is plagued by illness, she remains very optimistic. Despite her difficulty moving, she insisted that the reporter sit down to chat.
Yang Guozhen, 36 years old, has worked in the Shipai area of the Tianhe branch of China Post for more than three years. Because he lives in the Shipai East dormitory, he picks up the mail truck every morning at 6 o'clock, waiting for his colleagues to return and sort the mail together. "Once, while delivering mail, I accidentally knocked on Aunt Liu's door and learned about her situation. Since then, whenever I have free time, I come over to help her out."
He told reporters that due to malnutrition and lack of strength, Aunt Liu fell a few times at home the other day, causing her entire body to ache and her legs to continuously ooze pus.
The elderly woman hasn't been downstairs in 8 years.
Reporters learned that because there is no elevator in the residential building, Aunt Liu, who has difficulty walking, hasn't been downstairs herself for 8 years. She only went downstairs once many years ago to take a photo for her new ID card. In 2008, because she had pneumonia, she had to hire someone to carry her downstairs to see a doctor. "It cost 80 yuan each way."
Although she has been sick for more than 30 years, Aunt Liu said that when her physical condition was slightly better, she still insisted on cooking herself. "Since my joints are twisted and I can't hold chopsticks, I use a spoon to eat. If the pain is too unbearable, I have to order takeout."
Daughter married far away in the U.S., hard to return.
Guan Jie, who works as a part-time worker at Aunt Liu's house, told reporters: "Her husband is already over 80 years old and is therefore unable to take care of her. Her only daughter married far away in the U.S. many years ago. I heard she works in a supermarket and only came back once a few years ago." Every time Aunt Liu talks about her daughter far away in the U.S., her eyes immediately well up with tears: "I miss my daughter so much, always hoping she will call me to hear her voice!"
Regarding Yang Guozhen, who has been selflessly helping her, Aunt Liu praised him endlessly: "Xiao Yang is really good to me. Every time he comes to help, he brings me vegetables and buys me fruit. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, he even gave me a big box of mooncakes." Regarding this, the simple and honest Yang Guozhen just casually said: "I'm just doing what I can."
Good Deeds Archive
Person: Yang Guozhen, mailman of the Shipai area of the Tianhe branch of China Post.
Good deed: Cared for Aunt Liu, who has difficulty walking, for a long time, bringing vegetables and buying fruit each time, and even making soup, etc.