FUZHOU, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Sitting in a corner of the classroom, ponytailed Chen Yingxin attended the last Chinese class before China's national college entrance exam, or Gaokao, which was held on July 7 and 8 this year.
Her slightly swollen feet rested on her wheelchair peddles, with her thin legs under her loose trousers.
Paralyzed since five, Chen, a 19-year-old student of Fuzhou Foreign Language School in east China's Fujian province, has persisted with her studies and dreams with support from her family and friends. The college entrance exam was yet another milestone in her quest.
Last year, Chen obtained a German language certificate known as DSD II, with which she can apply for universities in Germany if she gets a certain grade in this year's Gaokao. She wants to learn translation in university.
Chen's lower limbs were paralyzed in an accident. Since then, she has suffered from bedsores, which are ulcers on the skin caused by pressure from prolonged lying in bed or sitting in a wheelchair.
"The years in high school are the hardest of my life," she said. "I've spent over half of my high school years in hospital, unable to attend classes in person."
In the past three years, Chen had undergone five bedsore surgeries. She even had to take one year off to stay in the hospital for treatment.
Chen watched livestreaming classes on her smartphone while being confined to the hospital bed. A camera was set on the classroom lectern to disseminate live feeds.
Because of bedsore, she had to lie on her belly when having classes or doing homework. Her elbows were always covered in bruises as she needed to prop her upper body with the elbows.
"She has never cried in front of the family but I know she wept when no one was around, every time after surgery," said Chen Yong, her father.
Chen Yong quit his job to take care of his daughter after she was paralyzed. Her high school offered him a job in the library so he could better attend to his daughter.
Despite the enormous challenge of dealing with both the physical condition and academic pressure, the father and the daughter both agreed that quitting studies would disappoint those who had helped them.
During her junior high school, every morning Chen's classmates took turns to pick her up and push her to the classroom in the wheelchair. Her former school building did not have an elevator, so her male friends used to carry her and the wheelchair upstairs with bare hands.
"She performs well in school," said Chen Wensheng, the dean of Chen Yingxin's grade. "I can feel her unswerving determination, although she never talks much."
Her family and teachers all have noticed that the once-outgoing girl has become reticent in recent years. Her father attributed the situation to repeated relapse of her bedsore.
Instead of talking, Chen resorted to writing to relieve her stress and pain.
"Writing has given me spiritual support," she said. "When I am overwhelmed by melancholy and sadness, I rid myself of those feelings by expressing my thoughts through writings."
She had co-authored a book about school life, and won awards for her writing. She hoped that one day she could be like Yang Jiang, a well-known writer and translator in China.
Her most recent plan is to write a novel based on her life, hoping that her story would give people strength and draw attention to patients with spinal cord injury. Her family is very supportive of her plans.
"I hope she can have the skills to support her life, and that one day she can live independently and take care of herself," Chen Yong said. Enditem
