Chinese father of cancer-stricken girl offers himself as ‘bride’ to anyone who can save her
After five years of struggling to pay for his nine-year-old daughter’s leukaemia treatment, desperate dad says ‘dignity means nothing to me’
The father of a young girl with leukaemia has offered himself as a “bride” to anyone who can help cover the cost of his daughter’s medical treatment, according to a Chinese media report.
Guo Anchuan, a 45-year-old carpenter from Zigong in southwestern China’s Sichuan province, said he resorted to the extreme measure after struggling for five years to find the money he needed, website Cover News reported on Sunday.
His nine-year-old daughter, Guo Yuting, was diagnosed in 2013 with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, an aggressive form of blood cancer in which the bone marrow makes too many white blood cells.
After borrowing 200,000 yuan (US$31,200) from his relatives, Guo was able to pay for eight rounds of chemotherapy, and by 2015 his daughter appeared to be doing well.
Sadly, Guo Yuting suffered a relapse earlier this year and since then her father has been finding it difficult to scrape together the money he needs for her continued treatment, the report said.
That was when he decided to offer himself as a bride-cum-servant to anyone who was willing to help.
“Dignity means nothing to me,” he was quoted as saying. “I will do anything I can to save my child.”
Photographs showed Guo sitting on the pavement in his hometown dressed in a white bridal gown and veil, with a wrench in his hand. He said he opted for the rather strange outfit to maximise his exposure.
Beside him on the pavement a banner explains his family’ situation, and makes clear his willingness to do almost anything to save his little girl.
“Seeking marriage to save my daughter,” it says. “I hope someone with kindness can subsidise me to cover the medical cost of my leukaemia-stricken daughter. I will spend the rest of my life slogging to repay you.”
He said his efforts had so far raised about 16,000 yuan but that he needed more.
“I’ve already spent about 70,000 yuan on the first stage of Yuting’s treatment, and the second and third stages are coming,” he said.
“Doctors told us that she needs a bone-marrow transplant as soon as possible,” he said. “And even if the chemo kills all the cancer cells, another relapse would be fatal.
“My daughter has been undergoing chemo since the age of four. I can only do my best to help her recover so she will no longer experience pain,” he said.
Guo said he and his wife had rented a flat close to the hospital so they could spend as much time as possible with their child.
He said that after five years of fighting to save his daughter’s life he was thankful to everyone who had helped him.
“I don’t want to give up nor is it possible for me to give up,” he said. “As long as her illness can be treated, anything I do is worth it.”
