Factory worker gives gift of life

For four hours, the machine silently harvested the hematopoietic stem cells from Qu Benrong's blood.

The blood flowed from a tube in the 38-year-old factory worker's left forearm into the machine, which collected the life-saving cells before pumping the blood back into Qu's right arm.

The cells, which are to be shipped across the Pacific Ocean, are expected to save the life of Bonnie Wong, an 18-year-old Chinese American girl who is suffering from leukemia. The procedure took place yesterday at Beijing Daopei Hospital, the country's only hospital permitted to harvest hematopoietic stem cells.