A 45-year-old carpenter has started going out to a public square in the Sichuan city of Zigong while wearing makeup and a wedding dress, desperately trying to raise money for his sick daughter.
Five years ago, Guo Anquan’s daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. She had just turned 4. Guo spent his life savings and borrowed tens of thousands of yuan more to pay for her treatment at a hospital in the provincial capital of Chengdu. After eight rounds of chemotherapy, his daughter’s cancer went into remission.
However, in February, the cancer came back.
Already heavily in debt, Guo has been forced to rely this time on the kindness of strangers. To attract their attention, he has started wearing red lipstick and a white wedding dress, making his plea beside a signboard which says that he is “looking for a partner” to save his daughter and explains that he will spend the rest of his life working hard to repay any donations.
While this method may seem strange, it has also been effective. Guo says that so far he has managed to raise more than 16,000 yuan for his daughter’s treatment. He explains that as long as he’s able to save his daughter’s life, he doesn’t mind the embarrassment.
“My dignity is no longer of any use to me. Just as long as there are good people who want to help save my daughter, I will pay any price,” he says.
Guo is just one of many desperate family members whose loved ones have fallen through China’s thin social safety net, resulting in some unusual and heartbreaking fundraising efforts with fathers dressing as Peppa Pig, grandmothers hawking blow-up sex dolls, and sisters selling their virginity.
