Home / World

Adoptive dad has heart that's big enough for two

China Daily | Updated: 2007-06-14 07:01

Adoptive dad has heart that's big enough for two

Zhu Xueyi's brother holds Zhu Lian's hand at Wuhan Union Hospital where she is being treated for heart disease. Li Shaowen

In the surgical ward of Wuhan Union Hospital, a 4-year-old girl firmly grips the hand of a middle-aged man and calls him father.

It seems the child, who has just undergone heart surgery fears the man might leave her.

According to a report that broke last week on www.xinhuanet.com, the girl is Zhu Lian, and the man, Zhu Xueyi, a migrant worker from central China's Henan Province, is the child's adoptive father.

Their story has touched the hearts of every doctor, nurse and patient at the hospital in the provincial capital of Hubei Province.

Zhu Xueyi was born into a poor farming family from Luowa Village in Luoshan County in Henan. He is the fourth of five sons.

Zhu Xueyi and his younger brother Zhu Hong used to work at a foreign-funded shoe factory in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province. Their older brothers are farmers in the family's hometown.

In April 2003, Zhu Xueyi and Zhu Hong were going home from work when they saw a bundle of rags in a park in the Shijing township of Guangzhou's Baiyun district.

When they looked closer they realized the parcel contained a newborn baby girl.

Zhu Xueyi, who was then 32 and single, immediately fell for the infant.

"The baby is lovely and I want to be her father," he said.

His idea to adopt the abandoned girl was supported by all his brothers.

Two days later, Zhu Xueyi's 60-year-old mother arrived in Guangzhou to help him care for the baby. They named her Zhu Lian. Everything seemed fine, but tragedy was about to strike.

Just one month later, Zhu and his brothers were devastated to discover Zhu Lian was suffering from congenital heart disease.

Doctors told Zhu that he needed to raise at least 50,000 yuan ($6,500) to treat Zhu Lian's condition.

For the five brothers, who were each earning about 500 yuan a month at the time, the sum was astronomical.

Zhu Xueyi's colleagues advised him to give up on Zhu Lian, but he refused.

"This is a human life. She will die if I give up on her," Zhu Xueyi said.

"In the eyes of many local people, Zhu Lian is just an abandoned baby. But she is my daughter and a lovely girl in my eyes," Zhu was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

After speaking to his brothers back home, Zhu Xueyi and his mother returned home to Henan with Zhu Lian where they all vowed to care for her.

Over the next four years, the family spent every penny they had and even mortgaged their house to help pay Zhu Lian's medical fees.

Zhu Xueyi took his daughter to Wuhan for treatment last month after he learned the hospital had developed special techniques for treating heart disease.

Zhu Lian is now recovering from her surgery with her father at her bedside. Zhu Xueyi has said he will continue to care for and raise her, whatever the cost.

"Zhu Lian is my lovely daughter forever," he said.

China Daily

(China Daily 06/14/2007 page6)

Today's Top News

Editor's picks

Most Viewed