Teenager kills himself so his struggling family can afford his brother's medical bills… and news of his death prompts donations which save surviving sibling
- - Brothers Honghui, 20, and Hongtao Gao, 18, both got kidney failure in 2010
- - Their father was no match and mother fell ill rendering her kidney unusable
- - So father sold everything they had, including their home, to save his sons
- - Then Hongtao drank pesticide in his room before dying an agonising death
- - His note said: 'Brother, when you are cured, tell me and it will be enough'
- - Story made headlines in China, donations flooded in and transplant found
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A Chinese teenager who killed himself so his parents could afford to save his elder brother's life has been granted his dying wish... after doctors announced the surviving sibling is on the road to recovery.
Brothers Honghui, 20, and Hongtao, 18, were bother struck down with Uremia, a symptom of kidney failure, within months of each other in 2010.
Unable to afford the mounting medical bills, their parents, Chuanyou and wife Zheng Tingxia, sold almost everything they owned in search of two matching kidneys to save their son's lives.
Then, as time was beginning to run out, Hongtao locked himself in his room and drank pesticide, dying an agonising death.
In a heart-rending gesture of brotherly love, his body was found by a note, which included the words: 'Brother, when you are cured, please tell me and it will be enough for me.'
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Ultimate sacrifice: As a result of his elder brother's death, Honghui (pictured), 23, successfully had a kidney transplant and doctors say
he will live
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Brother's love: Shutting himself in his room, Hongtao wrote a short note to his family and then drank pesticide before dying and
agonising death
Up until summer 2010 life was good for Gao Chuanyou, his wife Zheng Tingxia and their two sons.
Both boys were at the top of their class in school and the future seemed bright as they put the finishing touches to the new house in the county of Funan in Anhui province in the central of China.
But then disaster struck when the eldest, Honghui, after a month of illness was diagnosed with uremia.
Doctors told his parents that only a kidney transplant could save their son's life. But then, just as they were coming to terms with this disaster, Hongtao was diagnosed with the same condition.
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One step at a time: Father Gao Chuanyou (in background), 44, it is a bittersweet moment, telling local media, 'I wonder perhaps how
we can afford to be happy with Gao Hongtao, but we will take it one step at a time.'
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Grief: Mother Zheng Tingxia lays flowers at her son's grave. His death prompted a flurry of donations, and after a two-year search, a
match was found for his brother
The boys' father sold everything they had including their brand-new, almost-finished house and borrowed heavily travelling around the country to various medical institutes in a bid to find a solution.
When the money ran out, teachers and friends of the two boys managed to raise another £10,000 for further treatment. But it was not enough.
Doctors had hoped that a transplant from the parents might be suitable but the boys' father was not the right tissue match, while their mother fell seriously ill when she learned of her son's condition rendering her inadmissible as a donor.
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In the note he said: 'Having both of us is ruining you, I hope now that you will be able to concentrate on my brother and save his life.
When he survives as I know he will, I simply want him to say to me I made it, and I will be content'
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Tragic sequence: The boys' mother stands in the family's home. Doctors had hoped that a transplant from the parents might be suitable
but the boys' father was not proper tissue match and their mother fell ill rendering her kidney unusable
In order to continue the treatment to keep the boys alive, the parents even began begging on the street.
Seeing his parents slowly falling into ruin and after learning that there was no tissue match, locked himself in his room, wrote a short note to his family and drank pesticide. There he died in agony.
In the note he said: 'Having both of us is ruining you, I hope now that you will be able to concentrate on my brother and save his life. When he survives as I know he will, I simply want him to say to me I made it, and I will be content.'
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Moving: Doctors operate on Hongui. As soon as he gets out of hospital he plans to honour a line from his brothers final testament:
'Brother, when you are cured, please tell me and it will be enough for me'
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Dedication: Hongui is now recovering in hospital under the care of his father who sold everything to save his sons, including their
brand-new house
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Unfinished: The family had to sell everything, including the home they were building
His selfless act made headline across China and donations flooded in. Then, at the end of last yea, after a two-year search, a match was found.
Honghui, now 23, has successfully undergone a kidney transplant and is expected to make a full recovery.
But for dad Gao Chuanyou, 44, it is a bittersweet moment. He told local media: 'I wonder perhaps how we can afford to be happy with Gao Hongtao, but we will take it one step at a time.'
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