Survivor Deng Yaping plays table tennis in her wheelchair in a local hospital. WANG ZHUANGFEI/CHINA DAILY
To resolve the situation, Gao arranged for her mother to move into the clinic. She has taken care of her ever since.
Gao was so busy teaching her students and caring for her mother she failed to notice that Yang, her fellow patient, had fallen in love with her. It took three years, but in 1984, they married and moved into a 15-square-meter room provided by Gao's employer.
They still live there. Although they only own a queen-sized bed, a wardrobe, two motorcycles adapted for the disabled and two wheelchairs, the tiny space is packed.
They would like to move to a bigger place, but money is an obstacle. "We can feed ourselves but can hardly afford a new house," Gao said.
Yang earns a living as an itinerant key-cutter, patrolling the streets with his tools. He also writes stories and poems. Sometimes the couple read Yang's poems at home, or share them with patients at the clinic, which they consider their second home, and at memorial occasions.
"I have experienced so much. I received help and love from others. Without their help, I would have died long ago. I have so much to say－that's why I started to write," Yang said, who has written a novel and a play about the earthquake, and both will be published soon.
"After I became paralyzed, difficulty and I became twins," Yang said.
Gao echoed his sentiments: "Some of the things most people can do in five minutes take us a lot of effort to accomplish. Losing the ability to walk was devastating, but we are grateful because we are alive and we have each other."
