A school boy collects and sells onions every day to raise money for the treatment of a seriously ill younger brother. An amazing story of brotherly love from China.
In 2015, the Yang family, who lives in a small village in Henan Province, was in trouble. Then a five-year-old younger son named Che fell seriously ill. The boy was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a rare condition that prevents the bone marrow from producing enough blood cells.
Since then, the main task of the family has been the treatment of the little one. For four years, the couple borrowed more than 700,000 yuan from relatives and friends, which went to maintain the baby’s health. The boy’s father, in order to pay for expensive procedures, even had to find a job in the city as a simple worker.
In addition to his parents, his older brother, Yihan, 11, also works in Che’s family. After his grandmother suffered a stroke in March, the teenager started selling family-grown onions at the market.
At the same time, the student does not ask others for voluntary donations, saying that he himself wants to earn money for the treatment of his brother.
Yihan’s dedication is commendable. Every morning he gets up at five o’clock and whatever the weather, picks vegetables in the garden.
Then Yihan gets on his bike and reaches the market around six in the morning. There the boy sets up a small commercial collapse: he puts onions, puts a jar for money.
On a makeshift tablet, he described the situation in the family. “Buy vegetables, save my brother”, is also written on it. A bunch of green onions costs one yuan.
After setting up a mini shopping mall, Yihan goes to school. He returns to the market during his school holidays to check if everything is in order. And in the evening, he takes the money and his simple equipment and goes home.
According to the teenager, he sometimes earns up to 50 yuan a day, but sometimes the onions are not sold at all. Anyway, in four months of work, the boy managed to save 1,182 yuan. All went to the treatment of their younger brother.
I want to save my brother. I want us to go to school together,” Yihan told local reporters. This is not the first time the boy has helped with Che’s treatment.
In 2018, the smallest needed a bone marrow transplant and his father could not become a donor. Then Yihan intervened in the situation, telling Dad not to worry. “Who else will save him if not me?” he said and donated his bone marrow.
According to the boy, the procedure was a bit painful, but he was not afraid, because only thanks to his brother could he recover faster.
