However, after donating organs, will it affect Luo Zhaoxian's life? After all, she is a mother of two underage children and a rural woman who maintains her family through physical labor. In 2010 during the Spring Festival, Luo Zhaozhi returned to her hometown and reunited with her mother, brothers, and sisters. After the Spring Festival, seeing her younger brother Luo Zhaolin’s sallow complexion, nausea, vomiting, and inability to lie flat at night, she, experienced in illness, sensed the severity of her brother’s condition and decisively took her brother back to Kunming for examination.
"Without the support of my relatives and townsfolk, I couldn't have survived. They gave me strength in overcoming my illness," said Luo Zhaolin. "The townsfolk of Dongpo Village donated over 7300 yuan to my family, and the Civil Affairs Bureau also provided assistance."
"The elder brother and sister-in-law are my second parents; they gave me a second chance at life," Luo Zhaolin said emotionally.
Among the six siblings, two suffered from kidney failure. The mother was torn, as both her children were dear to her, so how could she ask any of them to donate a kidney? However, the sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law were clear: if it could save their younger siblings, they were not afraid of hardship. With the support of family and neighbors—
To save their younger brother and sister, an older brother and sister each donated a kidney. The Luo family resides deep in the mountains by the Chongjiang River in the Tiger Leaping Gorge Town of Shangri-La County. Over the past eight years, this family has gone through an extraordinary experience—it is a pitiful family, where among the six siblings, two suffer from kidney failure. Yet, it is also a happy family, as with the support of their family, the sister and the older brother each donated one of their kidneys to save their younger sibling's lives. Behind them, there is also the support of numerous neighbors.
A nearly one-third waist circumference scar remained on Luo Zhaoxian's waist, from which the doctor removed a healthy kidney that was transplanted into her younger sister, saving her life.
The sister-in-law encouraged the older brother to donate his kidney to save lives.
In the span of two years, the two siblings successively fell critically ill.
In 2003, Luo Zhaozhi, the youngest daughter of the Luo family working in Kunming, felt fatigue and exhibited symptoms of weakness and facial swelling during her free time at work. She found it increasingly difficult to do things, and upon checking at the hospital, discovered high blood pressure and high serum creatinine levels. Subsequently, chronic nephritis, renal failure, and uremia were diagnosed, with increasingly severe conditions each time, letting large bags of medicine dominate Luo Zhaozhi's life.
Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming... wherever there was a hospital known for treating kidney diseases, the family accompanied her in seeking medical advice. Eventually, Luo Zhaozhi had no choice but to rely on dialysis to sustain her life. Fortunately, she had the support of her workplace and help from colleagues and relatives, allowing her to barely maintain her life.
Once again, divine intervention came—tissue typing was a match!
"As long as it can save my younger sister's life, I'm not afraid of being poor or suffering hardships in the future," said Luo Zhaoxian. Her husband said, "If Luo Zhaoxian cannot do heavy work in the future, I will take over. As long as the whole family can survive, we're not afraid of hardship."
Why did misfortune befall them?
It is understood that during the seven years the Luo family fought against the illness, the villagers extended helping hands, some donating money, others assisting with farm work. It was they who gave the Luo family the strength to overcome the illness.
Luo Zhaozhi decided to sell her property in Kunming to fully save her younger brother.
Sister resolutely donates a kidney to save her younger sister.
In 2004, misfortune struck the Luo family again. The youngest son, Luo Zhaolin, also showed symptoms of fatigue, weakness, and indigestion. One day, he noticed eyelid swelling, insomnia due to frequent urination and urgency, and after checking at the town hospital the next morning, the doctor diagnosed acute nephritis. After a week of anti-infection treatment, there was no significant improvement. Later, a check at the Lijiang City Hospital revealed chronic nephritis. For the following six years, Luo Zhaolin was tormented by the illness, undergoing Western and Chinese medical treatments, yet hopes for recovery were like soap bubbles, shattered repeatedly by reality.
With a series of doubts, the Luo family went to the hospital for examinations. Tests found that the two older daughters and one son were healthy, while the two younger daughters and one son had abnormal kidneys, one of whom was born with only one kidney. At a hospital in Kunming, after detailed inquiries about medical history by doctors, it was confirmed that after giving birth to three children, mother Song Jingzhen suffered an accidental injury, used some medication, and after recovery, the three children born afterward all had kidney damage, belonging to congenital developmental insufficiency.
"I must go to Kunming once a month for a check-up and buy medicine worth more than 4000 yuan, with high medical expenses and great living pressures," said Luo Zhaolin, looking helplessly at the big bag of medicine on the table.
For a rural family, monthly expenses nearing 5000 yuan is certainly not a small amount. The Luo family struggled in hardship but continuously received surprises.
"In early 2008, Luo Zhaozhi's condition worsened again, with severe renal failure, her life hanging by a thread. Seeing her younger sister in critical condition at just over 30 years old, the second sister Luo Zhaoxian, married far away in Dali Xiangyun, learned from various sources that if organ compatibility exists between siblings, a kidney transplant could save her younger sister. After discussing with her husband, she resolutely chose to go to the provincial capital hospital for tissue matching tests with her younger sister.
"Uremia, hospitalization for treatment, dialysis." This was the diagnosis and treatment recommendation given by the hospital. How could a rural younger brother afford the costs of blood dialysis and hospitalization?
With the support of her husband and family, on March 19, 2008, the two sisters Luo Zhaoxian and Luo Zhaozhi were pushed into the operating room of the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical College.
The surgery was successful! When they saw both sisters alive, the entire family burst into tears, "Thank you, hospital! Thank you, doctors!"
"People who cut open their bellies to save their siblings are rare, only the Luo family does this. Their story moved us," the villagers said.
"Tissue matching suitable, transplantation possible." The hospital's test results lit a lamp of hope for the family.
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"Meglin is hospitalized in Kunming and needs a kidney transplant. If we don’t save him, he won't have any hope of living," said sister-in-law Li Guoying, urging her older brother Luo Zhaohua to go to Kunming for tissue typing with his younger brother.
The help from neighbors gives them confidence.