Chinese woman, 24, dies of malnutrition despite US$145,000 effort to save her
- Wu Huayan, who lost her mother at four and spent much of her life caring for a sick brother, fell ill after eating only boiled rice and pickled chilli for five years
- She appealed for financial help after being admitted to hospital in October, but the public’s generosity was not enough to save her
A young woman from southern China whose story of poverty and deprivation sparked a public appeal that raised almost 1 million yuan (US$145,000) has died in hospital from complications relating to malnutrition.
After her mother died when she was four, Wu lived with her father and younger brother, Wu Jianglong, who suffered from mental health problems for which he required frequent medical treatment. Much of the family’s meagre earnings went on paying his hospital bills
Wu’s father died when she was 18, after which the siblings received a modest government subsidy of 300 yuan a month.
Despite the demands of caring for her brother, after leaving school Wu managed to get a place at a vocational college and was awarded an annual scholarship of 7,000 yuan to cover her expenses.