Chinese Student Has Carried Disabled Friend On Back Dozen Times A Day For 3 Years

One Chinese teenager, 18-year-old Xie Xu, is called "the most beautiful student in China," as he carried his disabled friend on his back so that he wouldn't miss classes.

His friend, 19-year-old Zhang Chi, suffers from muscular dystrophy, but was carried to every class, according to theindependent.

 Muscular dystrophy is a condition that slowly weakens skeletal muscle.

This lovely story has caught the Chinese media and is shared widely.

Guo Chunxi, the deputy headmaster at Daxu High School in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, who taught both students for three years, described the story as "so inspiring and touching".

"They aren't family, but Xie has been doing this for three years," Guo said. "He's the most beautiful student. He also exerts positive influence on other students, who readily help Zhang. With their assistance, Zhang has never missed out on one single class."

Xie is just 1.73 meters tall and weighs 75kgs. He carries Zhang back and forth at least a dozen times every day, over 200 days per year, according to rt.

China's Sina Weibo social network features the photographs of both friends, as well as their innumerable support messages from the public.

However, Xie and Zhang will not be studying together anymore. Xie is hoping to join the Nanjing Polytechnic Institute after he clears an interview on 23 April. Zhang will sit for China's intensive college entrance exam, the gaokao.

According to a recent human rights report on China from the US Department of State, there is a gap in China between the legal right for disabled people to be free from discrimination and access to formal assistance programmes in order to get complete independence.

"Nationwide, an estimated 243,000 school-age children with disabilities did not attend school," the report said.