Parents grieving death of daughter vow to pay back kindhearted donors

The parents of a 6-year-old girl are returning 160,000 yuan (almost $24,000) they’ve raised to pay for their daughter’s medical treatment to the kind-hearted people who donated the money after the young girl died this month after losing her battle with brain cancer.

The parents took their daughter to Shanghai for treatment after the girl was diagnosed with a brain tumor at a local hospital in June. She received brain surgery in Shanghai later that month.

Because they couldn’t afford the treatment fees for her 20 days in the hospital in Shanghai, the girl’s parents borrowed money from their friends and relatives and the girl’s uncle launched a fundraising campaign on the Internet. The campaign received $23,706 from 4,800 people.

Though the girl passed away, her parents felt grateful toward the people who had offered them help. “We will return the money to each and every one of them within three years,” said Chen Ming, the girl’s father.

Chen Ming and his wife started to refund money to the donors the day after their daughter’s death. Some of the donors said they felt sorry for the family, while others refused to accept the refund given the family’s difficulty.