Father’s devotion to his ‘baby bird’ touches hearts across the country
Print Edition
SEVERAL times a day, Wang Zhihua carefully chews food before passing it open-mouthed to his 3-year-old daughter, who opens her mouth wide like a baby bird.
It is not a novel parenting skill, but a method that the single father hopes can save the life of his daughter, Wang Keran. She is unable to chew food and suffers from vomiting due to a rare condition.
Wang Zhihua, 27, from Zecheng Village, Zuoquan County, in north China’s Shanxi Province, has fed his daughter in this way for more than 18 months.
Pictures of Wang Zhihua feeding his daughter mouth-to-mouth and media reports on his struggle to pay for the girl’s medical expenses went viral on the Internet last week, drawing admiration and sympathy from the public.
Last week, the little girl, who weighs just 7 kilograms, was admitted to Shanxi Provincial Children’s Hospital in Taiyuan, the provincial capital. By yesterday morning, the family had received 170,000 yuan (US$27,258) from well-wishers across the country.
Chen Rui, the girl’s doctor, estimated that her treatment may cost between 50,000 and 60,000 yuan. “Luckily, money is not a problem now,” Chen said.
Among those helping out is Li Yao, a father in his early 20s from neighboring Shaanxi Province. Li and friends have donated 15,000 yuan.
“My child is the same age and I wept after reading the story. A father’s love can be so great,” said Li, who has visited Wang Keran.
The little girl has achalasia, a disorder of the muscles of the esophagus that results in difficulty swallowing.
In 2012, she began to vomit severely and her teeth fell out due to malnutrition.
Wang Keran missed out on proper treatment because her father could not afford to pay and her condition worsened.
Doctors are working to improve her nutrition and planning surgery. “The treatment seems promising,” said Chen, adding that the hospital handles two or three such cases a year.
“As long as there’s a glimmer of hope, I won’t give up on her,” said Wang Zhihua.
The child relies on a feeding tube to obtain nutritional fluid, but still wants to taste food “processed” by her father.
To give her a taste of real food and help her eat more, Wang Zhihua has continued to feed her mouth-to-mouth. However, his daughter often vomits after trying to swallow her meal.
Ex-serviceman Wang Zhihua makes only 20,000 yuan a year repairing railway lines near his village.
To make matters worse, his parents are in poor health and require a lot of medication.
Earlier this year, Wang Keran became entitled to health care benefits attached to hukou, Chinese household registration.
She failed to obtain a hukou right from birth as her parents never officially registered their marriage. Her mother left home after she fell ill in 2012.
It is unclear how much of the little girl’s treatment costs will be covered by medical insurance.
Wang Zhihua says he will give unused donations to charity once his daughter recovers.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
