Year in review: Most touching stories of 2019

Boy gains weight to save father's life

Lu Zikuan, an 11-year-old boy from Huixian county, Henan province, gained 15 kilograms in three months in order to donate bone marrow and save his father.

When he was 3 years old, the boy's father was diagnosed with myelodysplasia syndrome, or abnormal development of spinal cord, which is an early stage of leukemia. In 2018, the father's condition worsened. To save his life, a bone marrow transplant was needed. And for the transplant to be carried out, the donor had to weigh at least 45 kilograms.

By consuming five meals a day, the son ballooned from 30 kg to 45 kg since March, when his bone marrow was found to match that of his father.

On Sept 9, the operation went smoothly at a Peking University People's Hospital branch in Qinghe, Beijing. After being discharged from hospital, the boy started to lose weight and hoped to eventually get back to about 30 kg.