The parents of two boys suffering with cancer have been left heartbroken by only being able to afford proper treatment for one of them.

Hu Shuzhang, 14, who has Ewing's Sarcoma, a highly malignant tumour, is currently being cared for at Beijing's Jishuitan Hospital.

His parents, a poor rural family from Jinzhai County of east China's Anhui Province, were only able to send him there after raising 100,000 yuan (US$12,330) from borrowing from relatives and donations from wellwishers. The fund, however, is dwindling fast.

Hu's younger brother Hu Shuai, 13, who has a type of blood cancer, has remained at the family home in Anhui as there is not enough money to pay for full treatment for him as well.

Medics in the area have provided basic treatment, with a small chunk of the medical fund raised by his parents.

The family's plight has been eased slightly by the Chinese Red Cross Foundation, which yesterday confirmed it would donate 50,000 yuan (US$6,170). But it has called for public donations as far more money is needed to offer hope to both brothers.

After three courses of chemotherapy, the elder brother's outlook has improved slightly and he is now waiting for an operation.

He said: "Every time the illness recurred, I just could not walk. It hurt when I took a step."

The two brothers were both diagnosed with the fatal diseases in October.

Several hundred thousand yuan is needed to provide treatment for both boys.

"We will go on but I don't know how long we can hold on," said their mother, Zhang Changfeng, tearfully at the hospital. "How I wish I could exchange my life for my sons."

When the family realized they would not have enough money to treat both boys, the younger brother said they should draw lots to decide who would go to Beijing for the best treatment.

Hu Shuai placed two "lots" one with the word "treatment" and the other saying "no" in each hand for his older brother to choose.

Hu Shuzhang chose the left hand, saw the word "treatment", and so headed for the trip northward to Beijing with his mother. But, unknown to him, his younger sibling had marked the lot in his second hand also with the word "treatment."

Their father, who has stayed at home to look after Hu Shuai, told the elder son later in a telephone call that his brother "cheated" to let him go to Beijing.

Both boys are students in their second year at a township junior high school, with the elder brother always ranked first in studies among classmates in his grade.

Doctors said they were doing all they could to treat Hu Shuzhang.

"It is really hard to predict the future," said a doctor surnamed Xu.

Xu said the tumour is situated at the bottom of the boy's backbone, making operations and treatment extremely difficult.

(China Daily December 23, 2005)