Cao Yiting signed an agreement to donate her organs and body Oct. 10 during her rehospitalization due to worsening physical conditions. The young woman, who just turned 18 years old, said that this is her biggest wish since she was diagnosed with cancer.
In 2018, when Cao was still a student at the Shenzhen Institute of Information Technology, she was diagnosed with liposarcoma after finding both sides of her neck had swollen.
The most effective treatment is to cut out the malignant tumor. However, the risk of the surgery is very high, according to doctors.
Cao then received medical treatments at a hospital in Shenzhen.
“Her neck was burnt and her hair fell out during treatment,” Hu Feng, Cao’s mother, told Shenzhen Special Zone Daily.
Cao received chemotherapy six times and radiotherapy 25 times in the past two years in an attempt to shrink the tumor to be able to undergo the surgery.
The surgery went well, and after staying in ICU for four days, Cao was transferred to a general ward.
Cao first got the idea to donate her body when she saw four people die in four days when staying in hospital for post-surgery treatment.
She was hoping the donation could advance medical research on liposarcoma.
Unfortunately, a matastasis was traced in her re-examination three months later. The follow-up treatment also failed to contain the spread of cancer cells.
In September this year, Cao and her mother traveled to
Lijiang in Yunnan Province, following her doctors’ suggestions.
After traveling through Yunnan, Cao returned to Yiyang in Hunan Province, her hometown. It was at the time when Cao’s situation started to deteriorate again. Cao insisted to go back to Shenzhen and stay in the city where she grew up.
However, Hu received a notice for critical illness of her daughter after arrival in Shenzhen. Hu said that she never thought it would come so quick.
The medical expenses brought a heavy economic burden to Cao’s family.
They received donations from her teachers, classmates and people in the community.
Her classmates said that Cao is a girl who always stays positive.
“I really want to donate my organs, for example the cornea, to let others see the world. It makes me feel like that I would be able to see the world,” said Cao.