We first met Wushuang Yang (“Wu”) on 30May 2008 when AA flight attendant Sandy Clevenger, who is also an RN, accompanied her from PVG to ORD and on to CVG. Here is her amazing story…..
Wu was born in November 1996 in FuYang City, Anhui Province, China. In January 2008 tragedy struck Wu, an only child, and her parents. Their house caught fire at night while they were sleeping and Wu was critically burned over 80% of her body. Her mother, who desperately fought to save her little girl, lost her own life in the blaze. In her own words, Wu recollects that day…..”I was curled up in a ball, screaming as the fire was surrounding me. I remember being covered by something. Later, as I was thinking about that day, I realized that it was my mom who covered me with her body. She sacrificed her own life to save mine.” Wu spent the next few months in a Chinese hospital undergoing multiple surgeries and skin grafts. The Chinese doctors told her father that she would not survive. However, with her strong will to live, she was able to come to Shriners to begin her lifesaving treatment.
Wu arrived at the PVG airport in an ambulance from her home several hours away. During the long flight she was in so much pain that Sandy had to get permission to administer pain medication. Wu tearfully asked Sandy (through the Chinese speaker) several times if her mother had died. She said she just felt that her mother was gone but nobody had told her. When they reached ORD Wu was again experiencing excruciating pain and was unable to sit on the smaller Eagle airplane to CVG so she and Sandy traveled by ambulance through the night to CVG and Shriners Hospital. She has been a patient at Shriners off and on since that day, traveling back and forth between CVG and PVG several times while she was healing from the 20 plus surgeries she endured at Shriners. Sandy was the one who accompanied her back home to her father the first time. Since then Bunny Doi, ORD F/A, has traveled with her several times and Cathy Brackett, also an ORD F/A accompanied her on one trip. Sandy has since retired, as has Sue Albers who was the AA Operations Manager at ORD on that first trip and was a huge help that night.
Over the past eight years Wu has carried with her not only the emotional sadness of losing her mother and being in a foreign country all by herself, but also the heavy burden of many physical limitations. Despite these struggles, she has mastered the English language, has managed to attend high school, and has consistently earned exceptional grades. In late May she will graduate with honors from high school. She has a wonderful, caring group of friends and lives with an amazing host family in Batesville, Indiana. She has done this all with a cheerful, friendly, optimistic, and “can-do” attitude. She truly inspires everyone she meets!
Wu dreams of a career in the medical field and plans to dedicate her life’s work to helping others who are struggling. It is her way of honoring the memory of her mother and the many health professionals that have cared for her. She visited Marian University in Indianapolis and fell in love with the school and the amazing people there who embraced her and committed to being part of her success. It was a perfect fit! Wu was beyond thrilled when she received an acceptance letter from Marian University. Additionally, Marian graciously granted her a scholarship equivalent to 50% of the cost of tuition, room and board for four years. Although this scholarship is substantial, it represents only half of the funding she will need to complete her undergraduate degree. Wu’s father is unable to assist her financially so her “surrogate” moms in Indiana have made it their mission to help make this incredible young lady’s dreams come true. If you, too would like to help, a Go Fund Me page is being set up for Wu and should be up and running in just a few more days. If you have any questions, please let me know. Wu is so very special to me and more than anything else I want to see her succeed. In the meantime you can donate HERE to the Wushang Fund!
Sandy Clevenger, Wushangs first escort, attended her graduation….and enjoy pics of reception and graduation below:
