An incredible crowdfunding effort in a rural village in China has helped pay for the removal of a giant grapefruit-sized tumour from a boy’s eye socket.
Doctors tasked with treating Li Zhenglu, aged six, had previously said the aggressive small cell malignant tumour was ‘incurable’ and accused the boy’s parents of ‘waiting too long.’
But the child, from Yanggu County in the country’s eastern Shandong Province, has since made a miraculous recovery following donations towards his surgery totalling more than 150,000 yuan (£17,081).
Now he is well enough to return home and can even attend nursery school and is set to go to primary school in his hometown.
Money had poured in from local villagers since May, when Zhenglu’s plight made headlines in China and abroad.
An amazing crowdfunding effort in a rural village in China has funded Li Zhenglu’s operation
Doctors previously said the child’s aggressive growth was ‘incurable’
Now after locals in Yanggu County in Shandong Province donated 150,000 yuan (£17,081) Li has had surgery
‘I’m very grateful to the donors’
Li’s parents said he had his right eye amputated following a playground accident in 2016.
According to local reports, without the financial means to continue his post-op treatment, an infection set in and the tumours began growing in March this year.
The cluster developed to the size of a grapefruit in a matter of weeks and covered nearly half the boy’s face.
The cause and nature of Li’s condition is not immediately clear as infections are not reported to cause cancer in the medical literature.
The boy and his mother and father pictured before the life-saving operation
Li recovering after his surgery to remove the grapefruit-sized tumour from his eye
Doctors at the Qilu Hospital of Shandong University in provincial capital Jinan were reportedly furious that Zhenglu’s parents had waited months to bring his case to their attention, saying ‘not even the gods’ could treat the boy.
However, thanks to the generous donations, the boy’s family were able to afford having the growths surgically removed.
Images of Li today show a striking contrast to the state of his health just six months earlier.
Li’s father says thanks to the fundraising appeal the family can afford a new home
The boy’s father said the donations not only allowed for his treatment, they were also enough to help the family build a brand-new home.
‘I’m very grateful to the donors,’ he said.
When asked whether he was happy to be going to school again, Li answered like any child would, saying: ‘Sometimes I feel like going; sometimes I don’t.’