Zhang Junchao, who will be 2 years old in 4 months, has his left leg wrapped in a thick plaster cast. Photo by Nandu reporter Huang Jihao. Nandu News - reporter Xue Bingni, intern Lin Honghai. If it were not for the plight of his young son, Zhang Hebao, a farmer from Fujian, would never have left his small town. In Guangzhou, his nearly 2-year-old son was diagnosed with congenital leg length discrepancy, a disease with an incidence rate of only one in ten thousand. It is reported that the current medical level in China has a cure rate of less than 30%, and in the worst case scenario, amputation may be necessary. This impoverished father also suffers from congenital neurofibromatosis, and his wife is deaf. Yesterday, he frankly stated that if his young son can be cured, he is willing to sell his house to seek medical treatment.
The domestic medical level has a cure rate of less than 30%. On the orthopedic bed at the Baiyun branch of Guangdong No. 2 Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Zhang Junchao, who will be 2 years old in four months, has his right foot wrapped in a thick plaster cast, playing with a baby bottle and a mobile phone. Father Zhang Hebao introduced that the family are farmers from Shibi Village, Shibi Town, Ninghua County, Sanming City, Fujian Province. Four months after the birth of his son, while giving him a bath, he accidentally discovered that his son's legs were of different lengths. After seeking medical treatment at a local hospital in Fujian, the doctor removed part of the bent tibia bone, but the bone did not continue to grow, making the condition more complicated. Later, upon the recommendation of friends, they transferred to this hospital in Guangzhou.
Director Zhang Xiao of the Orthopedics Department at the Baiyun branch of Guangdong No. 2 Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital introduced that Zhang Junchao suffers from congenital tibial fibular hyperplasia and nonunion of the tibial-fibular pseudarthrosis. Due to the congenital curvature of the tibia in the lower leg, a false joint has formed, which directly results in the difference in leg length. The incidence of this disease is only one in ten thousand, and previously, he had only encountered two or three similar cases. According to the current medical level in China, the cure rate is still less than 30%.
He said that Zhang Junchao has already completed the first phase of surgery, and subsequent surgeries will depend on the development of the condition. In the worst-case scenario, amputation will be necessary, meaning that in the future, only prosthetics can be used. "The prognosis of the surgery is not optimistic because the child is still in the growth period, and the entire surgical cycle is relatively long. It will take two to three years to determine whether the cure has been successful. The estimated total cost of the surgery is around 100,000 yuan."
"Planning to sell the house to treat the child"
A 100,000 yuan expense is almost a devastating blow to this farming family. However, this farmer with only a junior high school education still holds strong hope for his son's condition. "If it can be cured, I plan to sell the house and do everything possible to treat my child."
Zhang Hebao told Nandu reporter that he also suffers from congenital neurofibromatosis, with tumors of varying sizes all over his body. He is a farmer, and his wife is also a deaf patient. Since the 19th day of the first lunar month this year, when he brought his child out to see a doctor, they have been treating him for half a year, already owing more than 40,000 yuan, and the farmland at home has been abandoned." He said that besides the money owed for his son's medical treatment, he already owed 180,000 yuan for building a house, and the money he earns from farming each year is only about 4,000 yuan.
Facing his son's uncertain future, Zhang Hebao sighed, "As long as there is a little hope for the child, we will do our best to treat him. If the surgery can cure his 'short and long legs', I will sell the house, and the whole family will rent a house to live in."
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