People’s response to a serious ailment, such as cancer, vary. Some Chinese, like actress Kitty Xu Ting, opted for traditional Chinese medicine instead of chemotherapy, but lost the battle.
Shi Luyao, an 11-year-old boy diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia in 2013, is waging a lonely but brave battle against the disease. He first went through regular chemotherapy sessions for two years in Anhui where his father works. To pay for his two-year treatments which are only 30 percent covered by insurance since it was done in Anhui rather than in Guizhou Province – the family’s hometown – his father borrowed 200,000 yuan, reported Straitstimes.
When the boy’s condition improved, he returned to Guizhou in August 2015 under the care of his grandparents since the boy’s mother left them when he was two years old. But he still needed to have irregular bone marrow biopsy to monitor his condition. It meant the young boy had to travel 400 kilometers alone to a hospital in Kunming, reported Shanghaiist.
After the session, he does not even have time to rest because he has to wait for hours to get on the train back home so he could attend school. During those long period of waiting, which could last up to six hours, Shi fought back tears of loneliness over his situation.
“I wanted to cry, but I did not as I did not want other people to know I was all by myself," he admitted.
Upon arrival at Liupashui City, there is another wait for the first bus home to Guizhou so he could attend school and catch up since he had to stop for two year when he had to undergo chemotherapy. His Chinese language teacher, Peng Lu, upon learning of the boy’s ailment, assigned four classmates to study with and take care of Shi who still needs two more years of treatment, although he no longer needs a bone marrow transplant.