A GIRL has dropped out of kindergarten to take care of her father who has terminal cancer.
The girl, aged 5, has been helping her father repair bicycles since June in Pingshan New Zone.
The girl, Lan Leyi, nurses her father who has cancer of parotid gland, and also helps with the housework after her mother left in February, yesterday s Daily Sunshine reported.
She is really good to me and very thoughtful, always ready to help with anything. I am so proud to have such a daughter, her father, Lan Mantang, said. They live in the Zhuyangkeng community.
Lan Mantang was diagnosed with parotid gland cancer in 2007 and his condition worsened in June. We came to Shenzhen in 2007 to make money to treat my disease and ended up opening a bicycle repair shop. I had a large debt in 2008 after surgery and my wife divorced me and left because she could not stand the pressure, he said.
When Lan Mantang s condition worsened in June, he asked his daughter to leave kindergarten and help him.
She is so good. After dinner, she always washes the dishes. If I repair someone s bike, she helps me carry the tools. I also teach her some basic repair skills and she learns quite fast, he said.
Lan Mantang is a native of Qingyuan in Guangdong Province.
Being only 5 years old, Lan Leyi does not know what cancer is. She only knows her father is seriously ill, but could recover if she takes good care of him.
Living in a room less than 15 square meters, Lan has hung many certificates on the wall, which she won at kindergarten. I like studying and will surely go back to school after my dad recovers, she said.
She did not want to talk about her mother too much. I miss her, but she s gone, she said.
Lan Mantang is worried about her future. It does not bother me that I will die soon, but who will look after her when I die. My biggest dream is to let her go to school like a normal child, he said. (Wang Yuanyuan)
