‘If I’m gone, mother will return’: cancer-stricken girl’s moving letter to her father

A letter written by a seven-year-old Chinese girl with leukaemia to her father has touched the hearts of many readers who have donated 600,000 yuan (US$93,700) to help with her treatment.

The letter was penned by Zhang Jiaye who comes from a village near Jiamusi in Heilongjiang province in northeast China, the news website K618.cn reported.

No details were given of when or how the letter was made public, but donations started pouring in last September.

“Dad, I saw you cry today. I’m so sad. I know you’ve spent a lot of money to treat me. You’ve run out of money. Mum also left. This is all because of me. If I am gone, Mum will come back and you will be happy as before. I don’t want be treated any more. Let’s go home, shall we?” part of the letter said.

Zhang was diagnosed with leukaemia in May 2016 and is now receiving treatment in hospital, the report said.

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“I felt the sky had fallen down,” her father Zhang Mingliang was quoted as saying, describing the impact of his daughter’s diagnosis.

The girl received 18 courses of treatment within a year, costing 590,000 yuan, putting her family heavily in debt.

Her mother left home last July and has not been heard of since. Her father, however, said his daughter would never stop fighting the illness.

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The family’s plight has moved internet users.

“I read the whole story with tears in my eyes. Please let the public know her parent’s bank account details. Only by doing so is there is hope,” one person wrote.

Others said the health system needed improving to help poorer families who cannot afford proper care.

“It’s so painful for parents to see their children’s suffering,” one person commented. “It’s even more desperate to lose hope of any treatment because of poverty.”

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