A loving mother in China’s Henan province spent more than a million yuan ($154,000) building two metal footbridges in front of her son’s school, to make sure he and the other kids cross the road safely.

The woman, identified only by her surname, Meng, recently told Henan Television Station that the road outside her son’s school was always congested when parents dropped off or picked up their kids, and with no traffic lights installed in the proximity, crossing the road was a dangerous affair for both students and teachers. Another reason why she spent money out of her own pocket to build the footbridges over the road was that the school was located on lower ground and the puddles that constantly formed on the road caused her son to always come home with his feet soaking wet.

“There will be deep water and it is very difficult to cross the road,” the woman said. “The water will spill over the stairs where schoolchildren stand to wait for their parents like little birds. They looked miserable. My child’s feet turned white because they were soaking in water.”

Both footbridges, one of which is almost complete, and the other in its foundation laying stage, have been approved by the local bureau of housing and urban-rural development, but their construction was exclusively funded by the mysterious benefactor.

Mr. Meng said that she never told her son that she had paid for the new footbridges, because she doesn’t want her child to be vain about it with the other kids. She only hopes that her contribution will help keep the children and teaching staff safe and enable the kids to get an education.

“I just did what I can afford to do. You can’t take money with you after death and I don’t need to leave too much money for my child,” the woman said. “I will call the bridge the Wisdom Bridge. Students crossing the bridge can get wiser and wiser.”

 

This story has been getting a lot of attention in China, with most social media users praising the woman for her kindhearted contribution. She could have done so many things to benefit only herself and her family with that million yuan, like buy a couple of apartments, or a house, but she decided to do something for the whole community instead.