Society

Student sings to raise money for mother's illness

By Zhang Jiawei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-06-24 21:44

Chen Hui sings at his concert on Tuesday. [Photo/Yangtze Evening Post]

A music student at Yangzhou Vocational University sang his heart out Tuesday night in a bid to raise money for treating his mother's illness.

The singer, Chen Hui, majoring in vocal music, held a concert with the help of several classmates, the Yangtze Evening Post reported Thursday.

Chen's family, from the rural areas of Lianyungang of Jiangsu province, became debt-ridden after paying for cancer treatments for his grandfather and grandmother, who passed away several years ago.

His mother was found out to suffer from uremia one year before he was to take the college entrance examination. His father didn't tell him about his mother's illness until he finished the exam.

After years of hard work to pay back the family's debt, Chen's father died of liver cancer at the beginning of this year, leaving Chen and his sick mother to struggle on in poverty.

A classmate of Chen told the newspaper Chen didn't apply for school subsidies because he thought other students might be poorer than him. Instead, Chen took several jobs as a hotel waiter, street vendor and family tutor to pay his tuition fees.

Chen's university called on students to help, and they responded with 15,000 yuan ($2,200) in donations. The university also gave Chen a special subsidy of 3,000 yuan. A cleaner and a box-lunch seller came to the concert hall to donate 100 yuan and 200 yuan, respectively.

Students from the university's second campus also came from several kilometers away to Chen's campus for the donation.

The Yangtze Evening Post didn't reveal how much money Chen raised by the concert.