Huang Xiu Yun (Sharon, for her friends) is a 26-year old girl who was born in Yujiang, a small county of Jiangxi Province, in China. After graduating from Nanchang Hangkong University she moved to Shanghai and in May 2014 she started working as Purchasing Assistant in a foreign owned trading company. Everybody was immediately fond of her because she has one of the sweetest smiles in the world and when you look into her eyes you can feel her good heart. The things Sharon loves the most are her family, her friends, and nature. Plants and flowers represent her somehow, with their purity, their strength and fragility at the same time. She likes taking pictures, listening to music and practicing yoga. She has always been very proud of her beautiful voluminous hair, which she liked to tie with ribbons, while wearing pastel ruffled skirts.

On September 23, 2013, Sharon didn’t show up for work and had not told anybody that she was going to be out sick that day. A Few hours later she finally answered the phone but her voice was distant and soft, “I have a bad headache, I am at the hospital now, I feel…confused”, she said, unaware of the painful surgical procedure she was about to undergo. The doctors performed an aneurismal subarachnoid hemorrhage in her cerebellum. Unbeknownst to her throughout her life, she was born with a cerebral vascular malformation. She underwent a 6-hour surgery, followed by the second one due to an infection that occurred in the area few weeks later. She was kept in the ICU for a couple of months and during that time the only contact she could have with the external world was a 15-minute daily video call. Most of times she could barely say hello. It was hard to say whether she was asleep or unable to speak, and her arms were tied to the bed to prevent her from touching her bandages. Sometimes she smiled feebly and those video chats meant the world to her family and friends.

Once she was out the risk of death everybody (first of all, the doctors) simply thought the nightmare was over. Her post-surgery treatment didn’t involve any cognitive rehabilitation but only a physical therapy to help her restore the use of her body, improving her balance control and physical strength. Nobody was interested in her psychological health. Eight months after the aneurysm her family decided to move back to the rural Yujiang, and day after day she has been getting used to the idea that she would never be the same as before. She spent her days with her mum at home without receiving the proper stimuli and cognitive rehabilitation. She gave up her dreams and she is only surrounded by the precious overwhelming love of her family. She is not able to cook, to work, to read, or to have a shower by herself anymore. Also, after the surgery her eyesight got worse. Her parents spent 160K RMB to save her life and they borrowed money from relatives and friends for these surgeries. What’s worse, Sharon feels extremely guilty for that.

At the beginning of October 2014 Sharon underwent another surgery because she was diagnosed as having hydrocephalus and now she still has an external ventricular drainage.

In March 2015 the doctors diagnosed her with an occipital osteomyelitis infection and if the treatment she is receiving with antibiotic medication is not effective, a fourth surgery will be necessary.

Please help us to return Sharon to the independent and joyful life she once had. We are asking for a small donation to help Sharon and her family offset the tremendous costs associated with these medical issues.

Whatever amount you can contribute will greatly help her family through this nightmare.

We thank everyone for sharing, donating and sending positive energy to Sharon. Despite all this, Sharon is still a very positive person and thanks everyone for their support.