http://www.journalismwithoutborders.com/ Articlesen http://www.journalismwithoutborders.com/typo3conf/ext/tt_news/ext_icon.gif http://www.journalismwithoutborders.com/ 1816ArticlesTYPO3 - get.content.righthttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssWed, 22 Jun 2011 17:04:00 +0200 http://www.journalismwithoutborders.com/details/article/brides-tragic-treatment.html This is the moment 24-year-old Chen Cuilan gets her final wish - to have a set of wedding photos...
He said: "We both came here as migrant workers. We never had much money but we had each other and we were very happy. We married in 2008 and our happiness was complete when our daughter Zeng Xingyue was born in 2009.

"Chen Cuilan had been getting stomach pains for some time but we had been too poor to go to a doctor straight away - when we did go in May this year we were told she had terminal cancer. My world ended when I heard that. When she said she wished we had done the pictures at the wedding - I knew what I had to do and straight away arranged to borrow the money."

The photos cost just 200 euros - equivalent to a months salary for the dad who will soon have to care for their daughter alone.

He said: "With the medical bills and the continuing treatment costs it was a struggle. But I found the cash by borrowing from friends - then I found my wife's dress and brought it to her at the hospital - it was great to see her smile.

"I took her in a wheelchair to the studio - when the photographer saw us crying rather than laughing he asked why and when he heard our story he refunded our deposit. "And he came back the next day to reshoot with our daughter in the pictures as well, again for free."

The bride's mother who was present at the second shoot had to hide behind a mirror so her daughter did not see her tears - and there was not a dry eye in the hospital as the couple's daughter hugged her mum and begged her to come home with them. Chen Cuilan said: "I think she sensed something was wrong. But she is a brave girl - she will understand."

Doctors believe that she has six months to live if she follows her medication - but without treatment she could die at any day.

She said: "We could not afford the wedding pictures - I always regretted it. Now I am content in the love of my husband and my daughter who have done this for me - and I hope they will think on me when they see the pictures."

Husband Zeng Sai agreed saying: "It was a day of beauty for us all to remember. She looked as lovely as the day we were married - but it was so hard to stay brave and smile." Although doctors say Chen Cuilan's condition is terminal, good medication will help to extend her life and Journalism Without Borders is collecting donations to help pay for this and to help clear the family's debt from previous treatment.]]> Wed, 22 Jun 2011 14:01:00 +0200 http://www.journalismwithoutborders.com/details/article/brave-face.html Brave mum Wei Yanjun has vowed to raise 50,000 GBP for reconstructive surgery after her...
"We are not rich, not even comfortable, but I will do anything in my power to make my son well again," said mum Wei Yanjun, 32. Local schools have banned the youngster, afraid they won't be able to cope with the dozens of creams and painkillers he needs to take every day.

"That is hard for him so after school I take him to their playground with a few friends so he can pretend he's at school," said Wang's mum.

Now surgeons say they can rebuild the lad's face in a series of operations - but they'd cost more than the entire family could earn in a lifetime.

"My boy has all sorts of problems. Lately his lips have started to grow together. But we will and we must raise this money," said his mother. Journalism Without Borders is collecting donations for Wang's treatment.]]> Wed, 22 Jun 2011 13:47:00 +0200 http://www.journalismwithoutborders.com/details/article/inside-out-girl.html The shattered mum of an inside out tot born with her heart outside her chest has told how the... Journalism Without Borders is collecting donations for Beersheba's treatment.]]> Wed, 18 May 2011 23:00:00 +0200 http://www.journalismwithoutborders.com/details/article/margarethe-linseis.html The family of a woman crippled by a drunken Irish football fan have launched a charity to fight... The family of a woman crippled by a drunken Irish football fan have launched a charity to fight for the rights of others whose lives have been ruined by football violence. Margarethe Linseis, 85, who had been visiting friends in Salzburg was so badly injured her family were told she was unlikely to survive after the attack by Paul Kelly, 23, from Dublin. But in fact the woman from Priem am Chiemsee in Bavaria, Germany, survived - but suffered such severe brain damage that she now needs 24-hour care. At Kelly's trial in October 2010 public prosecutor Barbara Feichtinger told the court in Salzburg how Kelly and his friends had been among the 500 other Irish fans in Salzburg on the evening before the champions league qualifying game between the Bohemians Dublin and the local FC Red Bull Salzburg. Kelly had stolen a bike belonging to waitress Bianca Boeck, 27, who had chased after him and grabbed his shirt so that he fell off. But he had then picked himself up and ran off with two pals Brendan Devlin, 22, and Mark Flynn, 20. Kelly had pushed the old woman out of his way as he tried to escape but had then been grabbed by an Austrian man, Paul Auboeck, 23, who had seen the way in which he had pushed over the old woman. The court heard how Auboeck had held onto Kelly but had been punched and kicked to the ground by his two pals Devlin and Flynn who had then rained blows on him as he lay on the floor - then they ran off. Auboeck who also suffered head injuries and was in hospital for two weeks had afterwards refused to press charges against the two, saying he wanted to move on with his life. Margarethe's architect son Wolfgang Linseis, 56, said: "He knew what he had done at the time and all the radio stations were talking about the fact that my mother might not survive. She had even been given the last rites. But he ran off." Police had sealed off the city after the incident because they expected it would be a murder hunt, but once it was clear the Irishman had left it was not pursued so enthusiastically. The court heard how Wolfgang himself had identified a crucial piece of evidence after talking to taxi drivers that told him one of the three had fallen against a tree, leaving a small blood stain that had been picked up by forensic experts. It meant that by February 2010 they had managed to extract a sample of DNA from the bike that identified the Irishman as the same man who had provided a DNA sample when police had cleared an Irish pub in Salzburg - and taken the personal data of the 100 people present. Salzburg police chief Andreas Huber said at the time he remembered the Irishman, saying: "Kelly was very arrogant then so the suspicion against him had solidified." But Irish officials had proved reluctant to extradite Kelly, and it meant police had to wait until he left the country – and that happened in September 2010 when he went for a holiday on Ibiza and was arrested at the airport - and extradited to Austria after a month in a Spanish jail. Wolfgang added: "You get the feeling that almost everything is okay in the name of football. We really had to pursue this at every step of the way to make sure he was brought to justice - and when he finally appeared in court instead of an apology it was quite obvious he didn't feel at all that he was in the wrong. He had had a few too many drinks. He was arrogant and aloof and has even now still not apologised." Jobless Kelly had pleaded not guilty to charges of negligent serious assault (Margarethe), theft (of the bike), assault (Mr Auboeck) and making threats when he appeared in court. Although he was found guilty he was given just a seven months sentence, six suspended. Because he had been in custody for a month awaiting extradition he was allowed to walk free straight away. And although the cost of round-the-clock care for Mrs Linseis has been estimated at close to 400,000 Euros, that included the 1,000 a day for 5 months in intensive care and then various rehab centres, he was ordered to pay just 10,000 Euros in compensation. The only other income the family has is a pension for the care of their mother of 650 Euros a month. Defence lawyer Clemens Zeilinger said it was an "unfortunate series of events", stressing that his client was no violent criminal. But Wolfgang Linseis said that the fact he had never apologised spoke volumes. He added: "He claimed to be unemployed but he also said he had been to hundreds of Bohemians games each of which costs up to 40 Euros to attend. I wonder how he can afford that being unemployed. Stefan Rieder, Margarethe's lawyer, told the court that although Kelly had arrived with his father and tried to seem as if he wouldn't hurt a fly he had in fact already been registered with police in Wiesbaden, Germany, as a "dangerous hooligan". Wolfgang said: "My mother suffered a third degree traumatic brain injury and a basal skull fracture, is physically disabled and suffered a serious post traumatic change of character. One eye is a also destroyed. The neurologist who treated her told me that several brain areas had been cut off from oxygen so nobody can tell how she will recover psychologically. When you talk to her she might tell of some nice event of the past but she is unable to answer concrete questions." He added: "This whole affair has ended the active and vibrant life of my mother who is now in need of 24-hour care, my sister has had to give up her job to provide that care and we have all had to suffer while this was brought to court. But although we have had help from the victim support group the white ring and even from the German football fans in FC Bavaria - we feel there is not enough being done in material terms for the physical needs of the victims of such sporting violence. "We want to start an organisation to build a care centre where they can get treatment and advice for victims and families - we have had nobody that has been able to come in and look after our mother so we could take a break. We want to set up a unique residency to treat victims and support them by various therapies including sports, traditional Chinese medicine, psychosocial care and also job and finance related issues." At a press conference in March in Vienna the family unveiled details of the new charity for victims of hooligan violence which they call the "Roter Ritter", German for "Red Knight". By Richard Wolf We would like to thank the Austrian Press Agency for their help and support with this project.
 
Journalism Without Borders helped the family set up the charity including liaising with media and advising in related matters and is now collecting money to fund the project.]]> Thu, 14 Apr 2011 16:10:00 +0200 http://www.journalismwithoutborders.com/details/article/coral-boys-plea-for-help.html These are the heartbreaking images of Chinese toddler Li Shenghan who urgently needs treatment in...
But his parents who are migrant workers who earn less than 100 pounds a week have no savings left after spending more than a year travelling from hospital after hospital as the condition got worse.

Mum Mu Xiaojie, 33, said: "My husband and I did not have a lot of money but we have always wanted to do the best for our child which is why we went outside of our area to work. Now the doctors say it may well have been the pollution or something else in the environment he picked up while we were travelling that has made him so ill.

"He was always such a very happy child and got on so well with other children – now he's in pain all the time and he does not want to play with other children. But he still laughs and people have been very kind sending him toys."

"About a year ago I noticed some pimples on his arm. At first, it resembled a common skin disease, so I took him to hospital and doctors said the pimples were likely to be caused by an insect’ bite.

"The doctors prescribed some ointment; however, one week later, the pimples were still there. So I took him to a bigger hospital where they gave him the same ointment and by then the pimples had covered more of his body.

"Doctors didn’t know what the pimples were and didn’t risk removing the pimples directly. Finally the pimples grew bigger and spread to his whole body, making him look like a living coral."

Now his father Li Wenrui and his mother Mu Xiaojie, 35, who have both given up work to care for their child have finally got a diagnosis after taking their son back to their hometown at Shengjing hospital at Shengyang.

Mum Mu Xiaojie said: "When he first came here he was in a lot of pain and refused to move at all but the doctors and nurses here have been wonderful and they do their best for him. He is actually in a much better condition now than he was although he is still weak. In addition many people have been very kind sending my son presents – and I believe with semi-people caring that we now have a chance."

But the family need donations to go through with the treatment.

Doctors say he is suffering from a very rare version of Acute Monocytic Leukemia, and that if he does not get the full treatment soon then the cancer cells could spread to bone marrow and lead to acute leukemia.

Wang Huan, The doctor in charge of Shenghan’s case, said: "The child’s disease is quite serious, in the past 2 decades; we just had one similar case."

According to doctor Wang, the coral like skin covering is even present inside his mouth and under his eyelids causing incredible pain and is also probably the reason why he's not eating properly.

He said if the treatment is done properly the boy has a 50 percent chance of survival.

He said: "We need to carry out a bone marrow transplantation, and he also needs extensive chemotherapy."

The family needs to raise another 50,000 Euros for the treatment and is already in debt to the total of 10,000 which they estimate they will have to spend the rest of their lives earning to pay back friends and family.

Journalism Without Borders is collecting donations to help fund the treatment.
 ]]> Tue, 08 Mar 2011 15:35:00 +0100 http://www.journalismwithoutborders.com/details/article/happy-nude-year.html When a group of housewives wanted to raise cash for a pal's sick child, they could have nipped out... www.journalismwithoutborders.com Many thanks for taking the time to read this story and for getting involved in the journalismwithoutborders.com project. Because of the number of campaigns that we run we do not keep them live indefinitely - and this appeal has now been closed. If you have any questions please write to the journalismwithoutborders.com team on news@journalismwithoutborders.com. Since January 2010 - all appeals include a final update reporting on what we achieved and the latest status of the case that can be found at the bottom of the report.]]> Mon, 10 Jan 2011 11:30:00 +0100 http://www.journalismwithoutborders.com/details/article/hair-girl-plea-for-help.html By Kathryn Quinn Xie Qihua, 35, can’t help weeping whenever she mentions her 4-year-old daughter... By Kathryn Quinn Xie Qihua, 35, can’t help weeping whenever she mentions her 4-year-old daughter Miaomiao. Like every mum, Xie thinks her daughter is beautiful. But she is heartbroken by others treating her like a freak. "People tease Miaomiao, call her names and say she is like a wild animal. It breaks my heart to see her treated in such a cruel way," she sobs. The problem is the black hair-sprouting growths covering Miaomiao’s body, which doctors say if not treated will kill her. "When Miaomiao was 3-months-old, these black spots began appearing on her face, back, chest and arms. At first we thought they were birthmarks, but then they began to grow and hair began sprouting from each," says distraught Xie from her home in the rural village of Anbian in the Sichuan province of southwest China. As the spots began to increase and grow in size, panic-stricken Xie and husband Chen took Miaomiao off to their local rural hospital. There doctors diagnosed the hairy patches as melanoma, a type of skin cancer. "We were besides ourselves with worry. No one in our families had ever had anything like this. The doctor told us he would need to operate on Miaomiao, and of course we agreed," says Xie. "We thought that would save her. The first operation was on Miaomiao’s forehead and the right side of her face. She was only six months old. "The doctor was sticking needles into her. It was horrific the way she cried. But I knew, I prayed it would be for the best. The doctor told us that because we had done something about it early on the operation would be successful and the growths would be permanently gone. "And that gave us hope," says Xie. "He then told us we should bring Miaomiao back to the hospital for another operation in six month’s time, which we did and this time the doctors operated on the rest of her body. "And then we waited. We were told it would take about a year for the growths to disappear and we were full of hope. "In the meantime life for my little Miaomiao became increasingly unpleasant. At first she was too young to understand the stares and laughs from other people, but I understood them. They were accusing and mocking. "As she grew older I could see her beginning to shy away from people. She has never worn a dress, even when it is hot and sunny because I cannot bare for people to shout things out at her, which they do. "After a year things hadn’t improved - in fact they had got worse. Miamiao was now two-and-a-half and although her face had cleared up a bit she still had these black marks with hair sprouting out and her legs and arms and body just looked horrific. "Of course she was still beautiful for me, and she always will be. But people can be so cruel. All I want is for her to have a normal happy life. That is the least she deserves. "But she was sneered at by other children and treated like a freak by other parents. "We took her back to the hospital and the doctor told us there was nothing he could do. He said the growths were malignant and would soon develop into full blown cancer. "We were devastated. After being told it would all be okay, to be be told she is beyond help was beyond belief. My husband fell into depression and started drinking heavily. The news destroyed him. "The doctor told us that in the neighbouring province of Chongquing there was a doctor who may be able to help. We drove there with Miaomiao and he examined her thoroughly and then told us he could save her. "Again we were full of hope. We had already spent thousands on the two previous treatments, but despite having no money we knew we had no choice. "We went to work on our farm - working overtime into the night every night for months on end to raise enough money to pay for the operation which would cost 10,000 GBP. "Eventually we had enough and so again Miaomiao went into the operating theatre and this time it was a huge success. Within months the marks on her face had almost completely disappeared. "But by now the rest of the growths covered nearly 20 per cent of the rest of her body and the doctor told us that unless Miaomiao was operated on soon they would turn into fully blown cancerous growths and Miaomiao would die. "He told us she would have to undergo serious skin grafting.  Apparently, her skin disease is caused by the localised proliferation of melanophores and such a large amount of melanins, covering 20 percent of the body is quite rare. The only cure is skin grafting," Xie says. Having already spent tens of thousands of Yuan to remove the facial growths, Xie and husband Chen have now run out of money. "We are desperate and are hoping our local community will be able to help," says Xie. "If not our little Miaomiao will die."

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Journalism Without Borders is collecting money for Miaomiao's treatment.  ]]> Fri, 10 Dec 2010 14:57:00 +0100 http://www.journalismwithoutborders.com/details/article/james-fidelis-mshanga.html James Fidelis Mshanga lives in the shadow of the mighty Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. He might...  
James suffers from a growth condition which leaves him in severe pain, especially in his knees and pelvis. On good days he walks with a limp, on bad days he cannot walk at all, and he has never even set foot on the mountain that dominates the local skyline - although his friends often play there.
 
Instead he is cared for at home by his elderly grandmother, as his mother suffers from mental problems and cannot cope with looking after him.
 
The supportive family noticed abnormalities with James as he grew, and managed to get enough money together to take him to a hospital.
 
The doctors diagnosed Perthes syndrome – a degenerative disease of the hip joint –  and wanted to operate. However the procedure could not be carried out as it was too expensive for the family.
 
All the doctors could do was prescribe bed rest. This will not do the trick for James, who longs to be able to run around and play like the other kids his age.
 
Mary-June, a relative of James who lives in Austria, recently got in touch with Hannes Urban from Journalism Without Borders to make an appeal on behalf of her nephew.  Urban got in touch with a paediatrician in Lienz, East Tyrol, passing on photographs of James and the Tanzanian doctors’ notes.
 
Dr. Franz Krösslhuber examined the information, and seeing the disproportionate way in which James is growing – his legs are not as long as they should be -  confirmed that he must be suffering from a growth disorder, although is sceptical that Perthes syndrome is the cause, commenting that this usually occurs in younger children. Krösslhuber and his Austrian colleagues need more information, gathered from x-rays and examinations, to properly diagnose and treat James’ condition.
 
Some 5,000 Euros would be required to fly James and Mary-June over to Austria for a few weeks, where he could receive the medical attention he so desperately needs.
 
With a little generosity and some expert care, James’ quality of life could improve enormously, and with a little assistance he might one day achieve his dream - to be able to climb the majestic mountain of Kilimanjaro which dominates his home-landscape.]]> Fri, 19 Nov 2010 10:24:00 +0100 http://www.journalismwithoutborders.com/details/article/humpty-dumpty-girls-plea-for-help.html China's Humpty Dumpty girl has finally won a place at a specialist hospital in a bid to find a cure... Article published in Closer magazine * JournalismWithoutBorders.com is working together with the family and any money collected will be paid into the account set up by Angel Mum for her treatment.]]> Wed, 17 Nov 2010 16:07:00 +0100 http://www.journalismwithoutborders.com/details/article/chain-man-needs-handout.html By Kathryn Quinn Astonished medics are trying to save the hands of tormented Zhang Chuanqiu who... * Journalism Without Borders staff in our office in China have been in touch with those organising the care for Zhang and are now in a position to make sure the money goes over for the operation and after care as soon as it has been raised. The Huffington Post: Zhang Chuanqiu, Chain Skin Victim, Saved By British Media Charity ]]> Tue, 16 Nov 2010 08:48:00 +0100