The upcoming back-to-school season in September is a grand and exciting moment for all freshmen since they are going to be students of colleges and universities, open a new chapter in their life and create a beautiful future.

However, ZHENG Cong, an 18-year-old Quzhou boy who received the admission notice for the design major of the China Academy of Art, had to lie in the bed of the Hematology Department of the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, longing for a wonderful college life in the midst of sadness.

 If it had not been for the sudden leukemia more than four months ago, ZHENG Cong, like other students, would have happily registered at China Academy of Art on 2 September.

 From spring to summer, suffering from acute myeloid leukemia, ZHENG Cong, this pure, elegant and handsome young man, has been fighting a life-or-death battle with the disease. After the first chemotherapy, ZHENG Cong’s condition was only temporarily relieved. ZHENG Cong then received the second and third rounds of chemotherapy, and is about to receive the fourth round.

The vision of the future and the desire to survive made him strong, and he never complained about bone marrow puncture or chemotherapy. He was so optimistic that he thought he could recover early and go to school soon.

Early treatment has almost exhausted all the savings in ZHENG Cong’s family. ZHENG Cong’s parents were worried about the subsequent physical recovery and bone marrow transplantation as well as follow-up treatment cost. So ZHENG Cong’s father ZHENG Qiuyou launched a crowdfunding activity for his son on the Internet.

It is exactly this crowdfunding information that has attracted the attention of ShouXianGu. The vice general manager LI Zhenyu, on behalf of ShouXianGu, visited ZHENG Cong and gave him RMB 15,000 Yuan in cash and the third-generation sporoderm-removal ganoderma lucidum spore powder for adjuvant treatment, trying to relieving the financial burden of ZHENG’s family. 

The assistance to ZHENG Cong also raised the curtain of “Care for Health, Hope for Students” – ShouXianGu’s Public Welfare Action for Students with Tumor.

With talent in painting, ZHENG Cong was diagnosed with leukemia less than two months before the college entrance examination.

ZHENG Cong grew up with his parents in Xiaoshan. His family was poor, his parents had a disability certificate, his sister was married, and the only source of income for his family was his father’s salary by working in a textile mill. Although life was a little tight, his parents never begrudged the money spent on ZHENG Cong’s education. Even if learning art is expensive, ZHENG Cong’s parents would rather save money to buy school supplies for their son. For three years, his tuition fee has never been late for one day.

“He began to like painting when he was three or four. He often squatted in front of the TV and watched cartoon. Since he likes it so much and his teacher told me he has talent, I have to let him learn painting even our family is poor.” ZHENG Cong’s father said.

Thanks to his talent in painting, ZHENG Cong was successfully admitted to the art class of Xiaoshan District No.10 Senior High School. With the encouragement of his teachers, ZHENG Cong studied hard to improve his professional skills, and set himself a goal – be a student of the China Academy of Art. On the one hand, it is a dream art university for every art student, and on the other hand, ZHENG Cong wanted to succeed in the future and be a proud of his parents. 

As ZHENG Cong struggled for his dream, a sudden serious illness completely ruined all the plans of the 18-year-old boy.

Since April this year, ZHENG Cong has always had an intermittent fever, no energy and a bad appetite. The running exercise that had been previously easy for him exhausted him. On 12 April, ZHENG Cong’s parents accompanied him to a local hospital in Xiaoshan for examination, but the results shocked the doctor and his family: the count of white blood cell reached 484,000, almost 50 times higher than normal!

The doctor immediately asked his family to take him to Hematology Department of the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University.

“The white blood cell count is so high and the boy is young – when he came to us, we viewed the laboratory test reports and felt worried about him”, ZHENG Cong’s attending physician LOU Yinjun, associate chief physician of Hematology Department of the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, said, “he was diagnosed with high-risk acute myeloid leukemia, which is difficult to cure.”

Insisted on taking the college entrance examination after the first chemotherapy and later received the admission notice from the China Academy of Art.

ZHENG Cong received the first chemotherapy in the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University. During this miserable chemotherapy, he got a high fever of 40℃ and then pneumorrhagia and pulmonary infection. Any complication that occurs frequently during chemotherapy may be life-threatening at any time. Under the meticulous treatment of doctors, ZHENG Cong got through the chemotherapy lasting for about 40 days, and his illness was relived and brought under control. 

 In the meantime, the college entrance examination was coming soon, and ZHENG Cong made his decision: never give up!

This 18-year-old boy, with a strong will, and suffering from weakness, nausea and other symptoms caused by chemotherapy, put his heart into study. Every time when he felt sick, ZHENG Cong closed his eyes, though about happy things and looked forward to a wonderful campus life. 

So, ZHENG Cong appeared in the college entrance examination room in June after the first course of chemotherapy ended. Because leukemia patients are particularly vulnerable to infection, the school arranged a special room for ZHENG Cong, who returned to the hospital again after finishing all exam papers. 

Waiting for the examination result and cinching his teeth, ZHENG Cong received follow-up treatment and withstood disease attacks again and again. 

 God always favors those who work hard.

In July, ZHENG Cong in the hospital bed received the long-awaited admission notice from the China Academy of Art, and was finally admitted to design science of China Academy of Art Liangzhu Campus with a total score ranking the 15th position throughout the country. 

Though ZHENG Cong got the admission notice, he felt a little bit sad. “I certainly cannot go to the university this year. These days, some freshmen are discussing what to bring for the upcoming military training and what to buy in an online discussion group, but I can do nothing, so I am upset anyway.”

Since the disease relapsed, they had to resort to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The first chemotherapy just temporarily alleviated ZHENG Cong’s condition, and soon after this chemotherapy, number of abnormal cells in his marrow grew, indicating that the first chemotherapy failed to control or kill the abnormal cells. As a result, ZHENG Cong gone through the second and third rounds of chemotherapy, and is now going to receive the fourth round soon. 

“Leukemia chemotherapy is more miserable than ordinary chemotherapy, and not everyone can get through it.” Dr. LOU said, “ZHENG Cong’s disease progresses quickly, and relapsed after the first chemotherapy, so what we need to do now is to control the abnormal cells in his bone marrow, and then transplant hematopoietic stem cells after his condition is stabilized. ZHENG Cong fights with the disease bravely, and as doctors, we will certainly do our best to help him.” Dr. LOU Yinjun said. 

According to Dr. LOU, ZHENG Cong’s father and elder sister have now finished the bone marrow match test, and his sister matched with him perfectly and has completed the physical examination. As long as ZHENG Cong’s physical condition becomes stable, he will receive bone marrow transplantation. 

Hearing the goods news of successful matching and receiving the admission notice from China Academy of Art, ZHENG Cong’s parents, the honest couple, choked with sobs. The initial treatment took more than RMB 80,000 Yuan, exhausting all the family savings and money borrowed from relatives and friends. The cost of bone marrow transplantation and follow-up treatment may mean just a string of numbers for others, but for ZHENG Cong’s family, it is as heavy as a mountain. 

“When I knew the college entrance examination results, I couldn’t tell whether the tears in my eyes were of joy or sadness…” ZHENG Cong’s father ZHENG Qiuyou launched a crowdfunding online, and the words written down by ZHENG Cong touched many people and made them tear. 

This crowdfunding news aroused the attention of the management of ShouXianGu. Later, vice general manager LI Zhenyu, on behalf of ShouXianGu, visited ZHENG Cong and gave him RMB 15,000 Yuan in cash and the company’s third-generation sporoderm-removal ganoderma lucidum spore powder product, trying to relieving the financial burden of ZHENG’s family.