Community rallies around sick child
( 2002-01-17 00:35 ) (1 )

When an acquaintance told Liang Jinjie that a girl suffering from leukemia was seeking her mother on TV, and the TV photo of the girl's mother seemed to be hers, Liang couldn't believe what she had heard.

But after visiting her four-year-old daughter, Ren Yan, in the hospital, her lips white as ash, Liang burst into tears. In the six months since the two had been separated, the child had become seriously ill and was now on the verge of death.About three weeks ago, Ren had been diagnosed with a blood cancer called acute lymphocytic leukemia, a type of leukemia commonly seen in children.

Liang had visited her daughter every week in kindergarten after divorcing her daughter's father in 2000.

"I was not allowed to see my girl in his home, and I haven't gone to see her since April last year. I lost contact after I was busy with two part-time jobs every day,'' Liang said.

The father, who is paralyzed except for one hand, called the Shanghai Television Station, asking for help from the public to find Liang and complete his daughter's last wish.

"The girl's treatment has been delayed for two to three weeks because of missing the key period to control her white blood cells,'' said Cheng Bochang, a doctor at the Shanghai Children's Medical Centre.

Ren's leukocytes had spiked to 90,000 -- 40,000 higher than normal -- when she was sent to the hospital on January 7, and caused her to go into heart failure.

Thanks to the assistance of the television centre, the family agreed to send the child to the hospital.

"We thought it was impossible for her to recover,'' Liang said.

The doctor thought the family's pessimism would worsen Ren's condition, and

the hospital offered to transport her to the hospital for free treatment.

About 90 per cent of children with this disease who are under the age of 12 can expect to be cured, but Ren now has only about a 40 per cent chance of living for another five years.

Reporters with the TV station, the Shanghai Women's Federation, the Charity Fund Association and other individuals have donated about 30,000 yuan (US$3,623) for Ren's medical expenses, which is enough to cover the first phase of her treatment, which will last for one month.

(China Daily by Lu Chang)