'Cash for Kindness' at the TCL Chinese Theatre

Zuo Hongyan: The Chinese Mom Who Helped Her Cerebral Palsy Child To Go To Harvard

A boy from China was born with Cerebral Palsy has earned his Master's Degree and is now enrolled at Harvard Law School.  Thanks to his mom, who believed in the impossible and loved him enough never to give up.

Meet Ding Ding, 29, a Chinese man, who was born with cerebral palsy in Hubei, China. Medical experts told his parents that he wasn't worth saving. Ding Ding's father agreed, but his mother, Zuo Hongyan refused.

The unconditional love of a mother

Zuo Hongyan, then 25, had a difficult pregnancy, and Ding Ding suffered from intrauterine asphyxia. When the doctors told her about the life, they are going to face if they decided to keep Ding Ding.  

She refused to take the advice of the doctors and her husband. She kept Ding Ding and divorced her husband right after her son's birth,  raising Ding Ding on her own and pushed him to his fullest potential, which led him all the way to Harvard.

She took several jobs, a full-time teaching job, and other part-time jobs. Despite her busy work schedule, Zuo, the dedicated mother, still found time to teach Ding Ding and helped him catch like the other kids his age.

Zuo teaching Ding Ding to write

It is relatively more common in China for parents to give up their disabled children compared to most countries in the West. Chinese authorities estimated that last 2014,  98% of the 576,000 children who abandoned to orphanages because of disabilities.

When Ding Ding got older,  his disability became more apparent. He couldn't stand until he was two years old, he was not able to walk until he was three, or couldn't even jump until he was six years old. He learned and developed at a much slower pace then other children his age.

Ding Ding graduated Peking University

Zuo was very adamant that Ding Ding would overcome his disabilities. She paid for the rehabilitation treatment and even studied massage therapy, so she could take care of Ding Ding's stiff muscles, which is the symptom of the Cerebral Palsy.

She taught her son to use chopsticks, which was difficult for him. She also taught him to hold and write with a pen and urged him to study hard.  Zuo, who took the idea of  Amy Chua's 'Tiger mother' to new levels, and certainly saw her hard work paid off.

The young man graduated from Peking University School with honors in Environmental Science and Engineering in 2011.  Then he earned a Master's from Peking University International Law School.

Ding Ding: I never dared to dream of applying to Harvard

He spent two years working and was admitted to Harvard Law School in Massachusetts. He said that he never dared to dream of applying to Harvard.  It was his mother who never stopped encouraging him to give it a try. And whenever he had any doubts, Zuo was there to guide him forward.

Hats off to your perseverance and dedication, Ding and Zuo!

“All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.”

- Abraham Lincoln