A LOCAL teenager, who is suffering from serious cerebrovascular diseases, has received over 370,000 yuan (US$57,426) in donations from Shenzhen residents and a charity foundation, Shenzhen Evening News reported.

The 17-year-old, under the pseudonym Xiao Hao, is a Shenzhen Arts School senior student. In 2019, Xiao Hao displayed signs of eye inflammation and swelling, and involuntary shaking hands. He was sent to Peking University Shenzhen Hospital in Futian District and was diagnosed with internal carotid artery occlusion and dural arteriovenous fistula.

“He underwent two surgeries in Peking University Shenzhen Hospital and a Beijing hospital. Even with medical insurance, we paid more than 200,000 yuan in medical bills,” said Xiao Hao’s father, Yang Xiongwei. “Doctors said the illness cannot be easily cured and he recovered about 30 percent from the surgeries. He could live a normal life after the treatments, and other surgeries were suggested to be performed when he gets older.”

However, Xiao Hao went unconscious in August this year, and was admitted into the ICU undergoing two other major surgeries, which led to additional 2.34 million yuan in medical treatment fees. The family has been in overwhelming debt, owing the hospital over 1.8 million yuan.

“Xiao Hao’s mother is a housewife without income, and I am an employee of a logistics company earning some 100,000 yuan annually. We have no cars or apartments,” said Yang. They now live in a rental apartment in a Futian urban village. After exhausting medical insurance that only covers 60 percent of the expenses, the family is still facing challenges paying more than a million yuan in medical expenses.

The silver lining, however, is that Xiao Hao has regained consciousness and has been moved to a general ward. Xiao Hao’s teachers and classmates have also given donations to his family. The Shenzhen Aokangda Charity Foundation made a 30,000-yuan donation and Yang set up a crowdfunding campaign twice, raising 347,455 yuan as of Monday. (Xia Yuanjie)