Tragic story of hope ends in happy reunion

TAIPEI: Qi Jing, a fashion shop operator in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, was full of hope when she got a travel permit to join her husband in Taiwan five years ago. Little did she know how events would deteriorate from that happy moment and that two years later, her husband would go to prison, just as she learned she was pregnant. This was Qi's first test.

Alone and jobless, Qi returned to Xi'an. The birth of her twins, Zuo Zuo and You You, lifted her spirits at first. But her joy was short-lived. The younger of the twins was found to be suffering from infantile jaundice. That led to further examination and diagnosis of a condition known as EHBA.

Also known as Biliary Atresia, EHBA is a rare hereditary condition in which the bile duct carrying bile from the liver to the small intestine is blocked or absent. In You You's case, the only possible cure was a liver transplant, but chances were slim, doctors counseled.

After that, Qi felt incapable of halting her tears. Doctors even suggested she give up her attempts to save her baby. But every time You You cried, Qi's heart broke again.

"I just couldn't give up. It's as if I've lost my senses. I would smash my head against a wall if that would help," Qi said.

Against her doctors' advice and over her family's objections, Qi decided to give part of her liver to You You. Qi still was recovering from the Caesarean section she underwent during childbirth four months earlier.

She waited for the operation in which surgeons would remove part of her liver to save her baby. She felt no fear, only hope, Qi said.

The day of the operation came. The doctors set about their work. Two days later, Qi learned her baby had died.

Then complications set in following the surgery, leaving Qi paralyzed. She remained fully conscious but unable to move.