Chinese woman offers marriage to save cancer-stricken sister, raises US$125,000

A Chinese woman devoted to helping her sick younger sister once joked she would marry for cash – and has massively exceeded her fundraising target, according to a news report.

Cui Qiao set out to raise 500,000 yuan (US$78,000) for her 14-year-old sister Cui Xiao’s leukaemia treatment, but has managed to pull together 800,000 yuan, Thepaper.cn reported.

The family come from Wuyi county in northern Henan province and their father earns just 1,000 yuan a month as a sanitation worker, while their mother is disabled.

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Cui, 23, resigned from her job as a kindergarten teacher after her sister’s first round of chemotherapy to care for her during her stay in hospital in Zhengzhou.

She has raised the cash by appealing for donations online.

The donations site was originally set up by her younger sister’s school in Wuyi county, but not enough money was raised.

Cui was later quoted in the media joking that she would get married if it helped pay for her sister’s treatment, generating publicity for the fundraising effort.

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Cui told the website she only made the joke partly in desperation as they were struggling to raise cash.

“At first I didn’t want people knowing my family was so miserable,” she said. “Reality forced me to say that sentence. For my sister, I will do the best I can.”

The hospital has yet to start looking for a bone marrow match for transplant surgery, but Cui has said she will be a donor if her bone marrow is usable.