Mother and aunts donate skin to children critically injured in fire

Two young children in Linyi, Shandong province, are fighting for their lives after suffering severe burns in a house fire. The children's mother and four aunts, displaying remarkable selflessness, have shaven their heads and undergone skin graft surgery to donate vital tissue for their treatment.

One of the aunts, surnamed Min, told Jimu News on Sunday that the 6-year-old girl has undergone the first stage of the skin graft process. Her 4-year-old brother remains in a coma, and all five women are recovering from their own surgeries.

The fire broke out around 3:30 am on Feb 20 when the mother, checking on the children in their cold room, turned on the air conditioner. Tragically, the room ignited shortly after.

With courage and selflessness, the mother rushed into the flames and rescued her children, sustaining burns on her hands in the process. The father, surnamed Wang, attempted to extinguish the fire while his wife rescued the children, who were both rendered unconscious by the blaze and suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning.

After receiving initial treatment at a local health center, the children were transferred to a city hospital and then, due to the severity of their injuries, to a specialized facility in Beijing on Feb 25.

Throughout this ordeal, the family has received an outpouring of support from the community. Online donations, assistance from the children's hospital, local government departments, and their hometown villagers have helped ease the family's burden during this difficult time.

Min, describing the mother as her third younger sister, stated that they have five sisters in total.

The picture of the five women with bald heads waiting for skin graft went viral online.

Netizens have expressed their heartfelt wishes for the children's recovery and praised the five women as "the most beautiful flowers in the world" for their extraordinary act of love and sacrifice.