Very often, people make personal sacrifices so their loved ones can lead better lives.
For one cancer-stricken man in China, that involved sacrificing his own treatment so his wife and daughter could afford the medical care they needed.
This touching tale of sacrifice has gone viral on China social media page
Those proficient in Chinese can watch a touching video describing the events here. Otherwise, we also summarise it after the jump.
Ke Meinan and Wang Huaying, a couple in Jiangxi, were in quite the predicament.
Mr Ke, now 42, was diagnosed with stomach cancer back in 2015.
Just one month later, his wife Ms Wang found that she had breast cancer.
In order to pay for her treatment, the couple had to sell their apartment, but that wasn’t the end of their ordeal.
This May, their 16-year-old daughter Ke Yingan was diagnosed with lupus, an autoimmune disease.
Once bubbly, Yingan’s medical condition now requires her to spend prolonged periods in the hospital.
This was the final straw for the family, as they couldn’t afford the medical bills for all 3 of them.
Ke and Wang work in the construction and manufacturing industry and make around S$394 (2,000 yuan) monthly, but their daughter’s treatment alone costs S$1,971 (10,000 yuan) daily.
Thus, they relied on social security and even had to borrow money from friends.
In the end, the couple made a difficult but necessary decision — pay for their daughter’s medical fees, and then decide through drawing lots who, between the two, will receive treatment for their cancer.
A clip showing the draw was broadcasted on the Nanching Radio and Television Station.
Like a gentleman, Ke told his wife to draw first.
She went ahead but found that she had drawn a ‘blank’ one. This meant that Ke, by default, would have drawn the ‘winning’ lot, allowing him to decide who would receive treatment.
He decided that his wife should be the one to get medical help. So he turned around and told Wang,
You got the blank lot, so you should raise our daughter till adulthood.
But later when Ms Wang left the table, Ke revealed that the draw was actually rigged — both pieces of papers were ‘blanks’.
He also explained that he only had 10 years to live, at best, but doctors claim that his wife could potentially live longer. This was why he decided to let his wife have the treatment instead.
The touching tale has been shared widely on Chinese social media sites.
Netizens and other charities also chipped in to help. According to the South China Morning Post, more than S$170,000 (900,000 yuan) was raised within just 6 hours.
The couple later thanked the donors in a separate video. They also told members to “stop donating” as the “money raised is sufficient” for their daughter’s medical treatment.
It is truly heartening to see members of the social media helping the needy and in such staggering numbers.
We hope that with the donations, all 3 members of the family will now be able to afford the medical treatment they require.
Featured image from thepaper.cn.
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