Mothers pool resources to help baby get a new heart

Jun Jun, an ethnic Yi infant from Sichuan province, has recovered and left the hospital after a lifesaving heart transplant at Wuhan's Union Hospital in Hubei province.

The surgery was funded by 150,000 yuan ($20,893) raised in just four hours through donations from over 400 kindhearted mothers across China.

Jun Jun was born on Nov 6, 2024, in Suba town, Mabian Yi autonomous county.

In early March, he suddenly developed symptoms like rapid breathing and paleness, diagnosed as "heart failure and severe pneumonia".

Doctors at West China Second University Hospital in Chengdu told Jun Jun's father that a heart transplant was the child's only hope for survival.

The 34-year-old father, who underwent heart surgery himself two years ago, supports his four children through odd jobs. The family was already 70,000 yuan in debt from Jun Jun's previous medical bills and could not afford the operation.

In desperation, Jun Jun's mother posted a video plea on social media platforms.

A breakthrough came on May 8 when an online user from Henan province contacted her. After verifying the boy's story, they set up a rescue group on WeChat.

The group quickly attracted over 400 members from across the country, mostly mothers.

"As Sichuan hospitals advised transferring Jun Jun to a more advanced facility, the group researched options nationwide," said one of the group members, Liu Jiangtao.

Members discovered that Professor Dong Nianguo at Wuhan Union Hospital has rich experience in this field and is famous for developing Asia's smallest artificial heart.

One woman in the group had her heart valve successfully replaced by Dong nine years ago and remains healthy.

These sympathetic mothers unanimously chose Wuhan Union Hospital for Jun Jun's treatment.

However, the biggest hurdle remained: The family did not have money for the surgery.

The group turned to online crowd-funding — posting daily on social media platform Xiaohongshu and in other WeChat groups, expanding their network.

On June 4, Wuhan Union Hospital confirmed: a matching donor heart was available for surgery the next day, requiring a 150,000 yuan deposit.

The group sprang into action: donations of 50, 66, 520 and 1,000 yuan flooded in as a flurry of red envelopes filled the WeChat group.

The full amount was raised within four hours. "Jun Jun is like our own child. We couldn't watch him die," Liu said.

Members not only donated but also organized supplies, assisted with paperwork, and some drove hundreds of kilometers overnight to help in Wuhan.

Some more good news came in: The donated heart from Zhejiang province was a blood match for Jun Jun.

After a four-hour operation on June 5, the new heart beat successfully in Jun Jun's chest.

He was taken off the tracheal tube 17 hours post-surgery, moved from the ICU after 16 days, and now weighs 7.5 kg — up from 6 kg pre-operation.

He drinks nearly 600 milliliters of milk daily, with all indicators showing strong recovery.

"Paediatric heart transplants represent the pinnacle of organ transplants, challenged by donor shortages and technical complexity," Dong said.

His hospital achieves an 89.1 percent five-year survival rate — surpassing the internationally reported 72.56 percent average.

Beyond medical care, the hospital provided Jun Jun's family free accommodation for cooking and childcare. Dong's team will also offer long-term medical guidance and psychological support.

After the operation, Jun Jun's mother said: "The kindhearted mothers and Union Hospital gave him a second life. We'll teach our children to take this kindness forward."

Liu, one of the "kindhearted mothers", said: "Many assume such illnesses are untreatable. But doctors like Dong, skilled and ethical, can achieve success in this kind of surgery. They deserve wider recognition.

"With costs often reaching 500,000 or even 1 million yuan, many families usually abandon treatment for this kind of disease. But growing public generosity and improved medical insurance now offer seriously ill children greater hope of survival."

Contact the writers at zhaoruinan@chinadaily.com.cn