Son, 14, donates stem cells to father

Weng Fanglei, 14, donated bone marrow stem cells for his 54-year-old father with severe anemia in late August.

The youth from Wuhan, Hubei province, donated about 1,250 milliliters on Tuesday and Wednesday, as the single ideal supplier for his father, Weng Haizhou.

Weng Haizhou suddenly felt dizzy and flustered while working at a construction site in early July. The disease — acute severe aplastic anemia — is a failure of bone marrow to produce blood cells, and may lead to severe bleeding, infection and death, without timely treatment, said Cheng Hui, director of the hematopathology department at the Wuhan No 1 Hospital. He added that bone marrow stem cell transplantation can help patients survive for a long-time.

Weng Fanglei will return to school after resting for a week. Cheng said every donor is a hero.