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"How long do you have to live?" For a man in his 40s, this is an extremely cruel question. However, for Cai Lei, this is a reality that he must face.
In 2019, this JD executive, who had a prosperous life, suddenly received a death notice: diagnosed with ALS. The average survival time of this orphan disease is only 2-5 years, and there is no cure for it. From that moment on, Cai Lei was like a walking corpse, and the time of his life was counting down every minute and second.
The cold wind of time is blowing in his face, mocking this proud son of heaven who was once a winner in life. How could he have imagined that the glory of the first half of his life would come to an end, and the rest of his life would be on the verge of complete paralysis under the encroachment of the disease?
All men are mortal
In 2018, everything was normal. Cai Lei is the vice president of Jingdong Company, and he has a lover and a smart son at home, and everything is like poetry and distance. Until that summer, he had arm weakness and muscle throbbing, then faltering and swallowing. A series of symptoms forced him to embark on a year-long capillary examination.
In September 2019, the bad news sounded like thunder - Cai Lei was diagnosed with ALS. This rare disease causes the body to slowly lose its motor function, from muscles to nerves to suffer relentless erosion. Once it happens, there is no cure, and it is destined to step into the abyss of death step by step.
"I was thinking about the last battle in the movie, trying to knock the bad guys down. Cai Lei recalled the picture that came to his mind on the day he learned of his diagnosis.
Yes, who would have thought that he, who had once attracted much attention, would now start a battle of fate and run wildly with the Grim Reaper? Life is impermanent, and health has always been the greatest wealth.
Before falling, kill ALS
Just when Cai Lei was just diagnosed, his circle of friends began to become deserted. Embarrassment, sympathy, avoidance... Familiar faces, fading away. This is not to blame others, the fear of death is human nature.
However, his wife Duan Rui, who walked side by side with Cai Lei, did not hesitate at all. When Cai Lei was about to give up the workplace and give up her marriage, she was the first to jump out and refuse. Subsequently, the two stepped down as JD.com executives together and devoted themselves to ALS research.
"We quickly assembled a team of more than 10 people, and every day we read thousands of relevant papers and analyze patients' cases," Cai said, with a hunger and thirst for life.
After leaving Jufu, Cai Lei and his wife invested in a "capitalless business": he raised more than 200 million yuan to set up an "icebreaker station" ALS research platform, bringing together global patient groups and sorting out various symptom data. In cooperation with Jinan University, it has successively promoted the research and development of 5 drugs.
His career is thriving, but Cai Lei's own condition is deteriorating at an accelerated pace. In the past few years, Cai Lei has gone from holding meeting documents to being paralyzed in bed and can only look at the ceiling, and his body is being eaten away by the disease step by step.
"My spine was crooked, my tongue and lips were atrophied, I had to tie myself with a rope in the shower, and I slept on a ventilator every day. When the CCTV reporter visited again, he only saw Cai Lei like this.
And just the year before, a new drug had given him a brief period of hope, and his physical condition had improved somewhat. The patient's family was all ecstatic, but they did not expect that the good times would not last long, and the deterioration would soon rage again.
Torture, the god of life gave him a hope, and then extinguished it. The spell that can give a glimpse of heaven will sooner or later be punished by the goddess of fate. However, Cai Lei never gave up, because there were tens of thousands of ALS patients standing behind him, waiting for a miracle to come.
"Give me ten years, and I will definitely be able to kill it in seconds!" Even though it was a bit laborious to say this, Cai Lei was extremely firm. He "wrote" the speech himself, tapping his fingers as input, and reciting it thousands of times to prevent stumbling on the spot.
The blood is boiling, and the passion is not unstoppable. This "ALS" can be described as a warrior among warriors, fighting the disease to the end as if he were dead. Even if there is only a breath of turbidity, the last ray of life will bloom and illuminate the road of hope.
To live is to resist fate the most
If Cai Lei is fighting for his life, then his wife Duan Rui is the biggest support and motivation in his life.
From the time the two met to the time they got married, their relationship can be described as hot. But after entering married life, they lived in two places all the year round, which led to constant conflicts. Cai Lei always puts work first, and family life is left out in the cold. The couple had a big quarrel several times, and Duan Rui almost wanted to divorce.
However, when the great wave of fate came fiercely, Duan Rui stepped forward and never gave up. She resolutely resigned from her original work unit and devoted herself to her husband's career. Get up at four or five o'clock in the morning every day to operate the live broadcast room, all kinds of real-time interactive accompaniment, what to eat and sleep and nothing else.
The comment area of netizens is always full of people, and some people can't understand Duan Rui's insistence: "I'm going to have to be a widow soon, why do you have to work so hard?" A good day is just staying at home and guarding the patient?" The insults rose higher and higher.
The doubts and criticisms of netizens are like a blow to the head. But Duan Rui has always used her courage and enthusiasm to contribute to this doomed and difficult battle.
In the live broadcast room, she comforted her husband with warm words from time to time and gave meticulous care. In order not to let their son be overly affected, the two often covered up their illness in front of their son, praying for a miracle to come as soon as possible.
Marriage is nothing but a part of love. For Duan Rui, the parting of life and death is tantamount to a baptism of the soul again and again. But what is even more terrifying is to witness the loss of a beloved life, but there is nothing you can do. Whenever others mentioned Cai Lei, her eyes burst into tears.
"Don't be pessimistic, don't be sad. Cai Lei often said that people must have hope and courage for life when they are alive. But sad and sad, how can he just talk about it? Duan Rui is just an ordinary person, how can he look down on witnessing the passage of life with his own eyes?
Fortunately, the mother and son stayed together to make this family complete. Although Cai Lei is powerless, his son will take the initiative to hug his father every day and give the last warmth of his life.
The word "believe" carries too much
The title of Cai Lei's published book is "Believe". Large characters cover almost the entire cover, as if it is a decisive cry against fate.
This book is like the text version of "Icebreaker Station", recording the wonderful story of Cai Lei's struggle with the disease. The bitter questioning never stopped him from moving forward, and every page was filled with longing and love for life.
"I should have lived a sunny life, and I was proud of both my family and my career. But life is like this, fate is also watching you when you throw bricks and stones. The book reads.
The heavy text tells the courage and tenacity of a person to resist adversity, and also shows the spiritual realm of Cai Lei. Not arrogant, not impatient, neither humble nor arrogant, calmly dealing with life and death, and finally humbly and confidently shouting the power of belief.
The book was an instant hit. Book lovers have snapped up "Believe" to find out. Soon, millions of royalties brought money to the "Icebreaker Station", which continued to advance ALS research.
What's more, this book has awakened the courage in the hearts of countless people. Whether it is birth, old age, sickness and death, or family and career, you must believe in yourself in a desperate situation. As the book teaches, "Believing is another form of victory." "
A patient can be so positive, no wonder "Believe" became an instant hit, and its influence is beyond imagination. There are many people across the country who have regained their confidence because of the inspiration of this book, and have been admitted to their ideal schools and realized their dream careers... These are fruitful in both emotion and reason.
"Believe" is not just an autobiography of personal experience, but also an apocalypse of life. Effort is like a beacon that never goes out, and even in desperate situations, keep hope for yourself and others.
This concept is the whole meaning of Cai Lei and his family's life. To live is to fight the disease to the end, until you kill it or fall yourself.
There are many online controversies
However, in the eyes of the outside world, Cai Lei and his family's "belief" just seems ridiculous and pathetic. All kinds of questioning and abusive remarks continue to stir up stormy waves in the online world.
"Blind people rely on the rope to see the road, they are making a useless heroic dream. "The survival rate of ALS is a few tenths per 10,000, forget it, it is more practical to be prepared for euthanasia. "
There are even more aggressive remarks: "The icebreaker station is just playing hooligans and demagoguery." The sick are just dying, what miracle can they hope for?
In this regard, Cai Lei and Duan Rui were not discouraged. They turned these incomprehensible doubts into clouds, and still silently supported them in the live broadcast room like walking corpses.
Some followers were puzzled: "Isn't it ridiculous to do this day after day in the live broadcast room?
Cai Lei responded: "We are looking for a way to cure and believe that we will find hope." If you fail and die, why not give it a try?"
It is this obsession with the future that allows Cai Lei and his family to resolve the doubts and doubts of the outside world. They know how hard what they are doing, but it is the last hope. Giving up is equivalent to a catastrophe, and it is better to make mistakes than to let go.
Skepticism is not limited to the Internet. Many authoritative experts and scholars have also expressed skepticism and criticism of Cai Lei's approach.
"ALS is not a simple disease, it involves a variety of complex factors such as neurotransmitters and proteins. How can a non-governmental organization like Cai Lei solve this world's problem? So says a neurologist.
There are also biomedical experts who bluntly said: "Cai Lei's approach is a lack of basic understanding of the disease. They have never systematically learned the professional knowledge of drug research and development, and blindly applying to the doctor is just feeding bait to patients and confusing their hopes. "
In the face of doubts, Cai Lei is fearless. "The reason why we are hungry is because we know too much how terrible this disease is," he said. If there is a miracle, even if there is only a 1 in 10,000 chance of winning, we will not hesitate to do so. "
In a word, it is the weight of the word "believe". Even if it's a desperate situation, you have to light the last fire for yourself.
Although there is no direction for the future, at least there is hope for sunshine. Just like Cai Lei and his family have always called for, as long as you live, you must go all out until the last moment of your life.
But the tenacity of Cai Lei and his family may just be a kind of "rebellious psychology" at work? In the eyes of everyone, they are like a grain of sand under the rolling wheel, destined to be ruthlessly crushed by the giant wheel of fate.
Years of physical and mental torment are nothing less than a form of mental abuse. But on the verge of despair, Cai Lei found his innate strength.
"I often dream of a scene where in the last scene of the movie, my last punch knocks the bad guy out. I also often fantasize that at the end of my life, I must kill the villain of ALS. "
Cai Lei often puts this sentence on his lips, as if he is injecting courage and fighting spirit into himself. To live is to become the sand under the rolling wheels, and to carry the weight of life with tenacity and perseverance. Even if you don't find hope in the end, you can at least have a clear conscience.
Coming to the end of life
It has been very difficult for Cai Lei and his family to fight all the way to now. How far a life can go in the end is a destiny of God.
Today, Cai Lei's condition has completely deteriorated, his limbs are stiff and unable to move, his tongue and lips have atrophied, and it is extremely difficult to speak. He had to put on a ventilator to keep his last breath on life. Cai Lei is like a frozen walking corpse, ready to meet the final destination at any time.
Even so, Cai Lei still insists on working more than ten hours a day to personally promote research projects. He knew that he was getting further away from success, but he did not give up, and as always, he firmly guarded the last spark of hope.
"We'll see you again in two or three months!" At the end of the interview, Cai Lei told reporters. The words are full of cherishing life, even if it is the last glimmer of hope, he is not willing to give up easily.
Before Cai Lei falls, maybe the research will really advance by leaps and bounds, so that the miracle is finally long overdue.
Or perhaps, the balance of science will always stay at the negative end, and Cai Lei will become the next Hawking.
So, what do you have to say?
References:
Red Star News: "The time given to me is too short!" Cai Lei, the former vice president of JD.com and a person with ALS, became more ill
Huanqiu.com: Cai Lei, former vice president of JD.com, is getting sicker, and his lips under his tongue have atrophied!