Zhang Wenjie, 19 years old, living in Liancheng, Fujian, was diagnosed with leukemia in February 2017 and cured in September 2020 (Shang Hua Ge/Photo)
In the summer of 2022, I went to Qixinghai Beach in Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province to photograph the beach party of a child with cured leukemia. More than a dozen healthy and lively children rushed to the sea, ate barbecue, and listened to music, and this kind of shooting was really healing for me.
At the time of parting, Li Ruiling, the head nurse of Zhangzhou Hospital, told me: "We will send the photos you took today to the parents of the newly diagnosed leukemia children this year to help them build confidence in overcoming the disease." ”
Zheng Yaqi, 5 years old, living in Longyan, Fujian, was diagnosed with leukemia in July 2020 and cured in April 2023 (Shang Hua Ge/Photo)
I was deeply touched, I didn't expect that the photos taken could have such a big effect, after all, there are two key points in the fight against cancer: first, there must be a certain economic foundation, and second, there must be confidence in victory.
In the two months from the end of 2023 to the beginning of 2024, I ran 7,500 kilometers in Fujian Province, visited 13 families, met 13 patients with leukemia, and made photographs for them.
Ye Wenting, 12 years old, living in Shouning, Fujian, was diagnosed with leukemia in December 2016 and cured in August 2019 (Shang Hua Ge/Photo)
I took a similar picture for each of them: close your eyes and think back to the most memorable event during the time when you were fighting cancer. What's going on? It's their secret. I'm just really recording the vivid moments of the children's memories of the past.
These 13 children who went through the test of life and death too early belong to a lucky but cruel number: 80%.
Zhou Chaohan, 14 years old, living in Liancheng, Fujian, was diagnosed with leukemia in February 2021 and cured in November 2023 (Shang Hua Ge/photo)
80% is the average cure rate of children under the age of 14 in China, which is the same as that of developed countries. The numbers speak for the grim truth: for every 8 out of 10 Chinese children with leukemia, 2 still die.
Leukemia, also known as blood cancer, is a malignant tumor of the hematopoietic system. Treatment involves chemotherapy or even a bone marrow transplant to destroy and try to rebuild the patient's immune system and hematopoiesis, and the patient will not relapse for five years. In case of recurrence, everything needs to be started all over again. The examination of bone marrow aspiration requires a steel needle to be inserted into the bone to extract bone marrow, which is a veritable "painful bone marrow". Many children will have pain and incontinence during the bone puncture. Every patient I came into contact with experienced this repetitive pain no less than 20 times during treatment.
Huang Ziquan, 11 years old, living in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, was diagnosed with leukemia in August 2017 and cured in June 2022 (Shang Hua Ge/Photo)
During chemotherapy, the patient loses his hair and is extremely weak. A sneeze from a passerby can cause a cold and fever, lung infection, and even death. At the same time, patients are not allowed to eat a grain of rice from a market restaurant to ensure that infection does not occur to the greatest extent. It is a matter of life and death, and this uneasiness will stir up the daily life of every patient's family during the five-year treatment process, and they will always be on the lookout.
Que Xiaolin, 13 years old, living in Yongding, Fujian, was diagnosed with leukemia in March 2017 and cured in April 2020 (Shang Hua Ge/Photo)
It was a five-year struggle, with someone unfortunately falling, and someone becoming the winner of a life-and-death struggle. But victory does not mean the end of trouble, and the shadow and discrimination that illness can bring about will still loom over the rest of the life of those who have recovered.
Susan Sontag writes in The Metaphor of Disease: "We are born citizens of the kingdom of health, but sooner or later we will enter another kingdom called disease." In reality, some people's perception of leukemia is still biased: some landlords are reluctant to rent a house to leukemia patients, and some children return to kindergarten after recovery, and other parents will unite to ask them to withdraw from school, otherwise they will bring their children to transfer to another school with a collective refund...... Ignorance breeds fear, and fear breeds discrimination. Stigma eventually became a lingering nightmare for partially cured leukemia patients.
Zhuang Yuming, 15 years old, living in Quangang, Fujian, was diagnosed with leukemia in December 2012 and cured in December 2017 (Shang Hua Ge/Photo)
The 13 children in front of the camera have completely shaken off the stigma of illness, and they deserve a warm and happy future.
They uttered the same three sentences:
"I'm healed.
"Don't be afraid, leukemia is not contagious.
"We wear masks just because of low immunity. ”
Tan Miaomiao, 9 years old, living in Xiamen, Fujian Province, was diagnosed with leukemia in August 2017 and cured in December 2020 (Shang Hua Ge/Photo)
Lin Zhihua, 13 years old, living in Putian, Fujian, was diagnosed with leukemia in May 2015 and cured in September 2018 (Shang Hua Ge/Photo)
Wu Qihan, 13 years old, living in Lianjiang, Fujian, was diagnosed with leukemia in August 2018 and cured in February 2024 (Shang Hua Ge/Photo)
Lin Bingqing, 25 years old, living in Melbourne, Australia, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2005 and cured in 2010 (Shang Hua Ge/Photo)
Ye Xin, 5 years old, lives in Youxi, Fujian, was diagnosed with leukemia in November 2020 and cured in May 2023 (Shang Hua Ge/Photo)
Zhang Wenting, 26 years old, lives in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, was diagnosed with leukemia in November 2012 and cured in December 2017. Now she is a mother (Shang Hua Ge/Picture)
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Editor-in-charge: Zheng Jie, Fang Yingzhong