Elder brother recovers after younger kills himself

The elder of two seriously ill brothers in a village in Funan county, Anhui province, whose younger brother killed himself so the elder could get better medical treatment, has fully recovered, Mirror Evening News reported on Thursday.

Both Gao Honghui, 20, and Gao Hongtao, 18, were diagnosed with kidney failure in June 2010 when they were in senior middle school.

The brothers had to receive dialysis three times each week, costing their farming family 1,500 yuan ($250) every week. Although the family sold their tractor and all their agricultural tools and received more than 100,000 yuan in donations, they did not have enough money for the medical treatment. The parents offered to donate kidneys but failed to match the brothers closely enough, so the two had to wait for suitable kidneys for transplant, while continuing the expensive dialysis.

On the night of July 22, 2011, Gao Hongtao killed himself by ingesting pesticide and said in a note that his death would save money for his elder brother to receive medical treatment.

The elder brother Gao Honghui received a kidney transplant on Dec 17, 2013, and has fully recovered.