In an extraordinary act of filial devotion, 11-year-old Lu Zikuan forced himself to gain nearly 15 kilograms in just three months by eating five meals a day so he could meet the weight requirement to donate bone marrow to his critically ill father.
The boy, from Xijingyu Village in Huixian County, Xinxiang, became a national symbol of courage and family love after successfully completing the life-saving procedure in September 2019.
Lu Yanheng, the boy’s father, was diagnosed in 2012 with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a rare bone marrow disorder considered an early stage of leukemia. For six years he managed the condition with medication. But in mid-2018 his health deteriorated sharply. Drugs no longer worked, frequent blood transfusions became necessary, and doctors declared a bone marrow transplant the only realistic chance of survival.
Family members underwent HLA typing. Of the three children, only Lu Zikuan proved a sufficiently close match. There was one major obstacle: medical guidelines required a donor to weigh at least 45 kilograms (ideally closer to 50 kg) to safely provide enough marrow and stem cells for an adult recipient. At the time, the slim primary-school student weighed just 30 kilograms.
Lu Yanheng initially refused to accept his son’s offer, fearing the procedure would harm the child’s future. Zikuan insisted. “I have a lot of blood. Draw mine,” he told his parents. “Since my father can’t support the family, I should be a ‘little man’ and take responsibility until he recovers.”
Beginning in March 2019, the boy embarked on a rigorous weight-gain regimen. His daily meals typically included three eggs, a large steamed bun, porridge and milk for breakfast; a large portion of braised pork with rice and vegetables for lunch; an afternoon meal after school; double portions of meat, eggs and noodles for dinner; and a final serving of egg noodles with milk before bed. He continued eating even when full, often to the point of vomiting, stomach pain and sleepless nights caused by bloating. He drank hawthorn water to aid digestion and checked the scale after every meal, celebrating every small increase.
Classmates initially teased him, calling him “pangzi” (fatty). Zikuan remained unfazed. “Save dad first, lose weight later,” he told local media. Within a month he had gained five kilograms. By July he reached approximately 48 kilograms — enough for doctors to proceed. Crowdfunding efforts around the same time raised nearly 900,000 yuan to cover the costly treatment.
On 9 September 2019 — his father’s 34th birthday — Lu Zikuan underwent the first stage of the donation at the Qinghe branch of Peking University People’s Hospital in Beijing. Under local anesthesia, doctors extracted about 510 millilitres of bone marrow from his lower back. Over the following two days they collected additional hematopoietic stem cells via a catheter inserted into a thigh vein. The boy remained calm and still throughout the lengthy, painful sessions. He emerged smiling, though pale and swollen, holding his own transfusion bag.
The collected cells were transplanted into Lu Yanheng the same day. From his sterile isolation room the father posted on social media: “On my birthday, my son gave me a priceless gift — his bone marrow. This is a seed that rekindles my life.” Zikuan later told him over the phone: “My task is complete, so it’s now up to you.”
Both recovered. Zikuan was discharged, began a normal diet and quickly lost several kilograms. He returned to school, where he remained class monitor and ranked among the top students. His father gradually rebuilt his immune system and was later able to return home.
The story moved millions across China and beyond. Lu Zikuan was later honoured as a national “Most Beautiful Filial Piety Youth” and named one of China’s “New Era Good Youth.” In interviews he spoke of studying hard and growing up to be a kind person.
What began as a desperate medical necessity became a powerful reminder of a child’s capacity for selfless love. For one family in rural Henan, an 11-year-old boy’s determination to “save dad first” quite literally gave his father a second chance at life.
