Across China: Crowdfunding cannot save China's leukemia girl

A five-year-old girl with leukemia has passed away only one month after her father's fundraising blog both angered and enchanted Chinese web users.

The girl, nicknamed Xiao Xiao, died in Shenzhen University Health Science Center at 6 a.m. on Saturday morning. Her parents have donated her body to the center for clinical research.

Gao Min with Shenzhen Red Cross Society, told Xinhua that Xiao Xiao's parents had bought her some new clothes and planned to dress her up as a Santa Claus to celebrate Christmas, without suspecting that she might fail to make it.

The father Luo Er first wrote about Xiao Xiao on November 25. She was diagnosed with a low blood platelet count in September and hospitalized soon after.

To raise money "in a decent way" for her treatment, Luo began writing about his daughter and her illness on WeChat. His journals were not widely read until Xiaotongren, a Shenzhen finance company, said it would donate one yuan (15 U.S. cents) for each reposting of the article. It was then heart-wrenching article "Luo Yixiao (her real name), Stop," went viral.

Luo described how he was signing up for the Red Cross Angel Plan. "I do not want to take advantage of the government," he wrote. "I want to tell my daughter that I am doing all I can, but she must wait for me."

He chided his daughter in the article: "Luo Yixiao, don't run away! You must be a good girl and come home with me. If you run away to heaven, even if you are an angel, one day when we meet there I will not talk to you."

As of November 30, the article had been read and liked by more than 100,000 people on WeChat, raising more than 2 million yuan from Xiaotongren and from readers.

As Luo's journal took off, people became interested in his private life and it was soon disclosed that he owned three apartments, implying that he perhaps had the means to fund his daughter's treatment without appealing to the public. Suddenly, far from drawing the sympathy of millions, Lou was denounced as a cheat who had taken advantage of people's kindness.

Luo made no secret of having three apartments but said he was planning to use the money raised to set up a foundation for children living with leukemia.

Luo Er was contacted by Xinhua by phone call on Saturday. Grief-stricken, he said he had never expected his daughter to pass away so quickly and expressed his gratitude to everyone who tried to help. Endi