Father plays dress-up to earn a few yuan for critically ill son’s cancer treatment

Wearing a thin red robe and a woman's wig, Dong Dajun (Right) tries to attract the attention of pedestrians walking through an underground passage near a Beijing hospital on Jan 13, 2015. [Photo/Beijing Times]

Wearing a thin red robe and a woman's wig, Dong Dajun braves the freezing temperatures as he tries to attract the attention of pedestrians walking through an underground passage near a Beijing hospital, urging them to buy his flowers.

An accountant from Linyi, Shandong province, Dong is struggling to earn a few yuan more 600 kilometers away from home as his critically ill 5-year-old son is being treated for lymphoma in an intensive care unit at Beijing Children's Hospital.

"No one responded me and bought flowers in the beginning, when I dressed normally," he said. "Then I was reminded that whenever I dressed in my wife's clothes, my son would laugh happily. Besides, more people may notice me when I dress in women's clothes."

In the week since Dong began selling flowers, he has earned about 200 yuan ($30). "It is not big sum of money," he said. "But at least I can buy some toys for my son to bring him some happiness."

The boy, nicknamed Hui Hui, doesn't know he has cancer. He thinks he just has a serious flu infection, Dong said.

Doctors at a hospital in Linyi suspected cancer when Dong and wife, Zhao Xiaoxue, first sought treatment for their son in September. They urged the couple to take him to Beijing.

"The cancer is found in many parts of his body, such his chest and kidneys," Dong said. "The doctor said it is impossible to remove all the tumors in his body, and chemotherapy is the better solution."

In Beijing, they visited several hospitals, and eventually chose the children's hospital for the surgery to remove tumors from Hui Hui's neck, he said. The boy has finished two rounds of chemotherapy and is undergoing a third round now. Eight more are needed, he said.

"Although he is getting almost back to normal after treatment, the doctor told me his life is still at risk and fragile," Dong said.

And the boy's medical costs keep climbing. The first chemotherapy cost 140,000 yuan, for which Hui Hu's rural basic medical insurance reimbursed more than 40,000 yuan, he said.