Meet Wang Yifan. He is what you would expect of a typical five year old boy — exuberant, talkative, inquisitive, mischievous, playful, innocent… except Yifan suffers from leukemia.
In November 2007, Yifan’s father returned home one night to find Yifan sick with a cold so he brought Yifan to the hospital for a simple checkup. When Yifan was changing, his father noticed blood on his neck and leg. The doctor suggested a blood test. The test result came as a surprise to all; Yifan’s blood indicator was abnormal, as the doctor had initially suspected. Yifan’s parents found it hard to believe, but agreed to an initial treatment. A few days later, the hospital tested the blood again. This time, the result was undeniable: acute lymphoblast leukemia. The news was devastating. With the help of doctors and friends, Yifan was transferred from his home of Ma An Shan in Anhui Province
to Shanghai Children Medical Center (1678 East Road) on November 29. Doctors diagnosed Yifan’s illness as still in its early stages and categorized it as “lower risk” that with treatment and proper care, had a greater hope of a cure. Because Yifan is only five, he has little fear of leukemia, which plays a vital role for his hopes of survival.
In Ma An Shan, Yifan, as a kindergarten child, has not yet acceded to China’s social insurance. Although his parents have commercial insurance from China Ping An, according to the terms, the maximum payment is only RMB 40,000. To maintain Yifan’s medical expenses, his parents need to raise money. The charges at Shanghai Children’s Medical Center are standard however, treating leukemia is still very costly with daily bed fees of RMB300, coupled with various types of treatment averaging RMB1,000 per day, not including any other incidental costs relating to treatment for other infections and/or complications (because children’s leukemia is not virus resistant, a minor injury may cause serious and even fatal consequences). Hence, it is necessary to closely monitor and control Yifan’s diet and health.
The doctors believe that if all goes well (that is, without any incidents and/or complications), the first phase of the treatment will take two and a half years, the first year of which will entail the most intensive treatment. Accordingly, Yifan cannot leave the hospital nor can he leave Shanghai to return to his home in Anhui. A conservative estimate of the cost of the first phase will be approximately RMB200,000.
To help Yifan and his family raise funds for Yifan’s medical expenses, we have organized a charity event at Mesa-Manifesto in Shanghai on Saturday, 29 March. The details of the event are provided below. We humbly ask for your support.
Charity Event Details:
Venue: Mesa-Manifesto Shanghai
Time and Date: 21:00-01:00, Saturday, March 29
Tickets:
200 Rmb per person / Party and donation, including 2 drinks + free flow of finger foods (100 tickets)
100 Rmb per person / Donation only (100 tickets)
50 Rmb per person / Donation only (200 tickets)
* “100% of all ticket proceeds will be donated” will be printed on the tickets
Activities at the event:
– Lucky draw, live DJ, Tango Dance Show