Medical Fund for Needy Chinese Children

Dear Donors, 

We hope you are enjoying the summer. We recently received updates about Min, who A Life A Time has been supporting since 2011. We are very proud of her achievement and wanted to use this opportunity to share her story. 

Min was born in August 1999 in Yunan province in China. In April 2008, Min’s house caught on fire. Min’s father was able to get her out of the house as they were close to the door, and her mother escaped after them. The fire quickly blocked the door and Min’s youngest brother, Ze, who was only one year old, was trapped inside where he had been napping.

People tried to use water to put out the fire, but no one knew at the time that the fire was being fueled by gas. Min, who was not yet nine, said her brother was still inside and ran into the house to try to save him. The fire trapped both Min and Ze inside, with Min using her body to try to protect her brother. Luckily, Min and Ze were saved by their father before the house burned down completely. 

Both Min and Ze were severely burned. Both of Min’s legs had to be amputated. All of her fingers except her left thumb were amputated too. For over two years, Min and her family struggled financially and emotionally. People questioned the financial burden Min and Ze would be for their family, which lost everything in the fire and was in debt from all the medical expenses. Min also questioned herself because how she now looked. 

Then in January 2011, with assistance from HandReach.org, Min and Ze were both accepted by Shriners Hospitals for Children to be treated in America. All medical treatment would be free. In May 2011 and March 2015, Min, Ze and their father visited Shriners Hospitals. Each visit lasted for months and included surgeries to treat their burn areas, installation and fittings of artificial limbs, and learning and practicing how to walk again.  

The treatments were successful, and Min became more accepting of herself and eager to get back to school, having been a good student before the accident. Following the accident, she was refused by many schools due to her disabilities, but Min had continued to study at home by herself with her father’s help.

Min particularly enjoys drawing and writing and continued to practice both even though she has only one thumb remaining. Thanks to her great patience and perseverance, she now can draw and write with both hands. Min often says she still thinks it is a miracle that she can continue to draw and write with her own hands.

Between 2012 and 2014, both Min and Ze were not able to enroll in school as no school wanted to accept them because how they looked. In September 2014, both Min and Ze were finally accepted by Kunming Yanhuan School. Within two months, she passed grades 3, 4 and 5 and finished her grade 6 in second place by end of the semester.

It has been almost seven years, Min attended China’s national university entrance exam in June. She received high scores that passed top schools entrance level in China. Min is hoping she can be admitted to a university that has elevators so that she can be more independent without bothering her mother (who have stayed close by her through her school years) or classmates to help go up and down the stairs. Min is also very interest in law major and hope with a law degree she can help other disable children who are just like her.

We are very proud to see how strong Min has become and hope more people with disabilities will use her as inspiration to overcome their challenges and regain their confidence.  

Sincerely,

A Life A Time Foundation

Dear Donors,

We hope everyone is doing well and remaining healthy during these times. Due to the continued spread of COVID-19 and travel restrictions, our Boston Trauma Fund, which provides financial support to children who have the opportunity to come to America to receive free medical treatment at Shriners Hospital for Children, located in Boston, is still suspended at this time.

We really appreciate your continued support and trust during this time. In 2020, we received nearly $30,000 in donations. Given all the restrictions, we haven’t been able to support as many children as we would like. We did spend approximately $9,000 on January 3, 2020 to support six children in China. Given that our work is currently on hold, we are asking all of you to temporarily hold your donations to us. Once restrictions are lifted, we will provide an update to all of you.

During the past year, we continue to follow up on the children we have supported in the past, and we’d like to share recent updates from Boshen, who is turning 13 this year.

Boshen had burns over 38% of his body following an accident at his grandparents’ home when he was 5 years old. His lower body was severely injured in that fire. After 10 months of surgeries and treatments, in November 2013, Boshen came to the United States for the first time and was treated at Shriners Children’s Hospital in Texas. Following that, Boshen returned to the United States for treatments in 2015 and 2018.

We recently reached out to Boshen’s mother. She expressed her concern that Boshen is reaching the age for middle school. In the area where Boshen lives, the only middle school option is a boarding school program. Although Boshen has recovered well, he is still not able to walk normally and is very slow. His elementary friends have been helping him commute to school right now, carrying his backpack for him. Once at the boarding school, Boshen’s mom is concerned that Boshen won’t be able to take care of his daily life, spending too much time just to navigate the classrooms, dormitory and cafeteria. Boshen’s mother is reaching out to the boarding school to see if he can get some assistance. Because of his trouble in walking, Boshen’s spine has been impacted as well and has started to curve. We are hoping when all the travel restrictions are lifted, Boshen gets an opportunity to come back to the United States to get that treated.

Sincerely,

A Life A TIme Foundation

• 2018 - March Boshen in Boston after his surgery (PDF)