Everyday a Chinese farmer named Zhang Liyong will bring his baby girl to her grave he dug up for her. The reason being? It’s essentially to prepare the infant for her death.
According to the 24-year-old father, he fears that his daughter’s days are numbered due to her critical illness. He reasons that he’s now “familiarising” the child with her future burial space.
Since birth, little Zhang Xinlei has been diagnosed with thalassemia. The illness is an inherited blood disorder that cause the person to produce little to no haemoglobin. As a result, there aren’t enough red blood cells to carry oxygen around the body.
For those that don’t know, patients with thalassemia will require life-long treatment by blood transfusions or Chelation therapy. Having spent approximately 100,000 yuan (RM63200), the family from Sichuan, China, could no longer afford to fund the cost of her medical treatment.
“We borrowed money from many, but they are no longer willing to lend us more,” said Zhang Liyong. He added, “I could only come up with this idea – bringing her to play at this place. This is where she will rest in peace. All I can do is accompanying her every day“.
Zhang Liyong and his wife, Deng Min, are currently expecting their 2nd child. The young parents initially thought having another child will provide their eldest daughter with an umbilical cord blood to save her life. However, the added cost of another pregnancy was just too much to bear.
Here’s a short clip of the interview:
Hopefully now that the family has gotten the attention of the media, financial help will soon follow suit.
UPDATE (29th June):
Since the documentary about Zhang Liyong and his daughter Zhang Xinlei was released by Pear Video, the clip has garnered over 16 million views. Asia One reported that a Chinese fundraising website has managed to raise approximately RM62000 as at time of writing.
Sources: Oriental Daily, Daily Mail, Asia One.
