Society

Leukemia Princess touches hearts

By Guo Rui and Peng Yun (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-15 11:06
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Online diary raises funds for transplant

WUHAn - Wang Yihan is undoubtedly one of the lucky ones among millions of leukemia patients in China. The 9-month-old girl, who is known as the Leukemia Princess on the Internet, has received loving care from her parents as well as from thousands of warm-hearted strangers.

Leukemia Princess touches hearts

Wang was born in Wuhan in June 2009 and her family was delighted with the birth of their daughter. However, things took a change for the worse in February, when a small red spot was found on her nose and a slight swelling in her right eye.

She was diagnosed with the M5 form of acute non-lymphocytic leukemia when the family brought the baby to Beijing for treatment.

The baby has since returned to Wuhan, where she is receiving treatment at the department of hematology, Wuhan General Hospital of Guangzhou Command.

The operation for a bone marrow transplant will cost about half a million yuan ($74,000).

"She is so young and she should be cured," Zhang Dan, the mother in her early 30s, said with a tired voice.

The huge medical bills have driven the family to near exhaustion. Zhang and her husband, Wang Liang, have to keep working to make money while they care for their daughter.

Leukemia Princess touches hearts
Zhang Dan, the mother of a 9-month-old leukemia patient, holds her baby girl, Wang Yihan, on Tuesday in Wuhan General Hospital of Guangzhou Command. [Xiao Hao/for China Daily]

Their combined income totals slightly more than 7,000 yuan a month and they have a 1,706 yuan monthly mortgage.

"A bone marrow transplant is the only way to cure her, but it will cost more than 1 million yuan for the entire treatment. We now have to find 300-900 yuan each day in Wuhan," Zhang sighed.

At her wit's end, the mother turned to writing an online diary for her daughter, which reads: "I beg the doctors not to give up on me. Please let me live in the world."

She put the Diary of Leukemia Princess up for auction on Taobao, the country's largest online shopping site, in an effort to raise money.

The special merchandise, which includes the baby girl's photos, stories and her medical record, quickly attracted a lot of attention. Some 2,000 warm-hearted netizens bought the items at a price of 10 yuan each within 15 hours. After confirming the story, Taobao specially opened a new Web page for netizens to make donations.

The young couple was busy shuttling between hospital, workplace and home. They now have another thing to do - to make contact with all the kind people who care about their baby after her story appeared on the Net.

They are also occupied with preparing for Wang's bone marrow transplant after a suitable match was found.

Wang has received some 110,000 yuan in donations as of Friday afternoon.

China Daily