Son sacrifices college to help mother fight cancer

Fue Xiong said his decision to delay college for a year was an easy one. He wanted to help his mom in her cancer fight. *********************************************************************************************************************************************** Want even more heartwarming stories?! Subscribe to Humankind's YouTube channel: http://bit.ly/1IrNzUN Like Humankind on Facebook: http://bit.ly/fbhkvids Follow Humankind on Twitter: https://twitter.com/humankindvideos Follow Humankind on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/humankindvideos/ *********************************************************************************************************************************************** Three raw sardines and two handfuls of rice. That was the last meal Fue Xiong and his family had in a Thai refugee camp in 2004 before coming to the U.S. – a meal shared between 10 people. The stark image of those sparse rations never left Xiong, and it was that image that helped earn the then-high school senior in St. Paul, Minn., a top 10 finish in a Chipotle essay contest in August 2015. The contest, Cultivating Thought, was judged by writer Jonathan Safran Foer and asked for 300-word essays about a time that food created a lasting memory. In addition to having their essays featured on Chipotle’s packaging, the winners also received $20,000 each to support their continuing education. But Xiong’s story did not end there, and neither did the money he would receive from the fast-casual restaurant chain. Xiong, then a student at St. Paul Central Senior High School, had been headed not to school in fall 2016, but to national guard training (June-October 2016). He had planned to use the money to start college in spring semester 2017, but his plans changed suddenly when his mother was diagnosed with stage 3 gallbladder cancer. Xiong decided to postpone college until fall 2017 to spend time with her and help out. “Me and my mom have a really strong bond,” he says. “But we are both shy people, so we don’t say it out loud but just express it through our actions.” He adds, “I just wanted to be here and take care of her. It wasn’t hard for me to make that decision.” When Chipotle’s corporate offices heard about the sacrifice Xiong planned to make for his mother, the company took action, making a donation of what Xiong says is close to $100,000 to help his family with any medical costs or other expenses it may face while his mother is sick. For more of the story, click here: http://usat.ly/24ONLFc