Taiwanese baby with eye cancer has both eyes removed

TAIPEI - The story of a couple struggling to get by after their baby daughter had her eyes removed due to cancer has touched the hearts of many in Taiwan.

Mr and Mrs Huang's youngest daughter was diagnosed with eye cancer when she was just a few months old. She had an operation to remove her eyeballs at four months.

The couple, who have two other daughters, had to quit their jobs in China and move back to Taiwan for their daughter's treatment.

Their daughters are now six, four and eight months old, Taiwanese reports said.

They now sell clothes online and at night markets as the flexible schedule allows them to take care of their daughters.

A friend, Ms Ai, shared their plight on Facebook on Dec 28 and wrote in Mandarin: "As a mother, I completely understand her pain and sadness. I cannot imagine how much courage it takes to face all this."

She wrote that the Huangs need to pay hefty medical bills but do not have a stable income.

Ms Ai appealed to her friends to pay the Huangs a visit at their night market stalls and shared their retail websites.

The post was shared more than 20,000 times and had close to 30,000 likes.

Taiwanese cable television channel TVBS reported on Dec 30 that business had picked up for the Huangs. Customers told TVBS that they came after reading the post on Facebook.

With no one to baby-sit, two of their girls waited on a step while their parents worked while the youngest slept in a pram near the stall.

The couple thanked the public for their support, but have refused donations, saying that there are people in worse circumstances.

This article was first published on Jan 5, 2016.
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