A father in Yibin, Sichuan province, carries his disabled son on his back to school some 7 kilometers from their home, Western China Metropolis Daily reported on Friday.

The son of Yu Xukang, 40, a farmer in the mountainous village of Yanzi, suffers from an undiagnosed disease that causes curvature of his legs, arms and spine and cannot walk. Yu's wife left home when their son was 3 years old.

Because of the disease, the boy did not start school until he was 12 years old. The father and the son share the dream that the son could go on to university for higher education.

Early every morning, the 1.5-meter-tall father carries his 12-year-old but only 90-cm-tall son to a primary school some 7 km from his home then returns home to farm. He goes back to the school in the afternoon to bring his son home. Every day, he covers 28 km on a rugged mountainous road so his son can go to school and, over the past six months, he has walked more than 2,500 km.

The local government authorities plan to financially support the father for his son's study and living expenses from primary school to senior middle school, and the public security bureau is making efforts to locate the boy's missing mother.