Loyal wife and her new lover care for paralysed ex-husband

Zhang Meijin (L) caring for his wife's paraplegic ex-husband, Yu Jianyun. Photo / Australscope

Meet the woman vowing to care for her disabled ex-husband for the rest of his life - with the help of her new lover - despite divorcing him after he became paralysed.

Li Jinluan, 45, and her new partner, Zhang Meijin, have seen their marriage approved after her new husband signed a maintenance agreement promising to care for Yu Jianyun, who is paralysed from the waist down, as well as the couple's nine-year-old son.

The landmark divorce case was overseen by Kaihua Huabu People's Court, which is in the city of Quzhou in East China's Zhejiang Province, on 16th July.

Li and her ex-husband had been happily married since 1999 until a serious traffic accident in November 2013 left Yu paralysed and with severe brain damage.

With Yu no longer able to communicate coherently or move his lower limbs, it suddenly fell on Li to care for him and their then three-year-old child.

Li said: "I didn't know anything. I had to carry everything, including raising our child on my own.

He can eat and has a healthy appetite, but he doesn't understand anything I say and can't turn his body."

This continued for some six years until Li was introduced to Zhang, who said he was "moved" by her dedication to her paraplegic husband.

Li recalled: "We chatted for two to three months on WeChat, and I was very blunt with him on the day we decided to begin our relationship.

I told him that if we're to be together, I require that he takes care of my paralysed husband as well as be responsible for raising my son."

Zhang, who has been helping the family for nearly a year now, agreed, and the pair signed the maintenance agreement which was approved in their local village on 22nd April.

Li won the unusual divorce suit, with the court stating that she would be put in charge of her and Yu's joint assets, while the village government would supervise the use of her ex-husband's finances.

Zhang explained his decision to help Li and her paralysed ex-spouse by saying: "She's a good person, and I'm happy.

This home is my responsibility now. Whatever I eat and whatever I have, they will eat and have, too."