bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

The plight of an eight-year-old boy in China who has a rare disease that makes his skin so fragile that it can blister with only a light touch has stirred widespread sympathy online and attracted more than 59,000 yuan (HK$74,400) in donations to help with his medical care.
Song Liucheng has the inherited disease epidermolysis bullosa and his case was featured by newspapers in northern Henan province and also on state television.
The money collected has been raised since Sunday evening after the first stories appeared on Friday.
Photographs published by the Dahe Daily show the boy’s torso and chest wrapped in toilet paper, the skin on his fingers peeling off and scabs on his body from previous wounds.
Four of his fingers on both hands are fused together and have no fingernails, but he still goes to school and wants to study at university.
His parents said they have to stay at home to take care of their son at their small farm in Shangqiu.
His father said they have already spent 20,000 yuan paying for his son’s treatment over the past eight years, all their savings.
They only have two electrical appliances in the house, a heater and an air-conditioner, which they bought for their son with loans.
His father said that about 12 hours after his son was born, he began crying non-stop and they realised his skin blistered on contact.
The illness has no cure and the treatment focuses on preventing blisters and other complications, but serious forms of the disease have a high mortality rate.
A doctor from Shangqiu No. 3 People’s Hospital told the Dahe Daily that in her 33 years in medicine she had never seen a child with the disease survive this long.
Many people commented on social media that they were heartbroken seeing the boy’s photographs and wondered what they could do to help.
One said: “It hurts just to look at the pictures.” Another added: “Although the boy can’t be cured, it would be wonderful even if we could ease his suffering.”


Chinese boy, 8, battles rare disease that makes him blister at the lightest touch 

Song Liucheng regularly attends school, despite his painful condition. Photo: CCTV News

News

China

The plight of Song Liucheng, who has an incurable skin disease, has moved the public after his story was featured on state television, prompting donations to help with his treament


The plight of an eight-year-old boy in China who has a rare disease that makes his skin blister with only a light touch has stirred widespread sympathy online.
