Subway appeal for China's tragic head boy, aged 5

Sitting on the ground outside a busy subway station in China Liu Jun is begging for help from commuters for his grandson.

Last summer a small swelling appeared on the side of Wang Xingao's face that has now grown so large it is almost the size of his head.

Since the problem appeared the desperate grandfather and the five-year-old boys parents who are poor farmers from Guannan county, in east China’s Jiangsu province, have been to dozens of hospitals who have all been unable to help - in the main because of the cost involved.

He said: "It was just a pimple when it appeared and then when it got to be the size of a small egg we tried to get help.

"I and my daughter, the boy's mother, went to a great many hospitals but it was all completely in vain. All we could do as we went from hospital to hospital was watch it getting bigger and now it is as big as his head.

"It weighs so much it is pushing his head to one side and now we are at the point where he is in a lot of pain. It is not even possible for him to see out of one eye any longer."

One of those at the subway pulled strings to have the boy checked at a hospital in Shanghai where a basic examination was carried out. Hospital officials have confirmed that without urgent treatment, that needs to be paid for by the family, the boy will not live much longer.

A hospital spokesman said: "Even with treatment it will be very difficult to do anything because any cancer in the head is extremely hard to tackle – especially one as advanced as this."

For the moment Xing’ao is back on the street with his grandfather begging for donations to try and raise the cash needed to start the process. Overnight the pair are staying in a small hostel.

Journalismwithoutborders.com has agreed to help raise funds and is in contact with the family about helping to get the operation organised as soon as possible.

Spokesman David Rogers said: "Our staff in China have spoken to the family and we will do all we can to raise some of the money so that the medical treatment can at least begin. Every day now is crucial."