(Central News/Dai Yazhen)
Despite suffering from a rare disease (Niemann-Pick disease type C) the Wu family were recently able to realise their collective childhood dream of a trip to Britain…and although there was no fantasy castle and no prince, they were happy to have been granted their long-cherished wish – so much so they wanted to shout it from the rooftops!
It should come as no surprise then, that the Wu family happily attended the NPUK Annual Family Conference & Interactive Workshop 2017, and gladly told their life story to everyone in attendance.
Yi-Hisn Wu has a rare disease named Niemann-Pick disease type C, which has resulted in her body’s function gradually degrading year after year. Her father Chin-Huei Wu (who accompanied Yi-Hsin along with her mother, Li-Ling Chou) has joined with other fathers in his homeland of Taiwan in a show of unity, composing groups and even shooting a documentary film “A Rock on the Moon”, which won the 50th Golden Horse Award for best original film songs. But Yi-Hisn’s physical function has unfortunately continued to degenerate, from running and jumping to being confined to a wheelchair, however despite this, Yi-Hsin did not give up school. Quite the opposite in fact, as after graduating from college, Y-Hsin enrolled alongside her mother Li-Ling Chou at the Institute of Religious Studies. They have since graduated.
But for Yi-Hsin are more dreams, one of which is to study in the UK…
Talking to the Central News Agency reporter, Yi-Hsin’s father commented:
“From 7 years old Yi-Hsin has wanted to come to England to see the castles. When reading about this country once again we recently revisited this dream…and realised that in order to make this dream a reality for our child, we would have to begin our preparations. But with this rare disease, it takes even more planning. Originally we were going to make this trip next year, perhaps in May, but the doctor told us that if we made it that late…it would provide a much higher risk – so an earlier departure of September was decided.
And so we came to England to see the castle, and got a photo with the Royal Guards – and we saw [Yi-Hsin’s] bright smile, and it gave us great comfort. We had persevered, and so even though the English weather was cold we didn’t once cry or feel tired!”
After arriving in the UK, the family visited the British Museum, Oxford University, and also participated in the NPUK Annual Family Conference & Interactive Workshop. Beaming father Chin-Huei shared the family’s photos of their trip to the United States, New York, including snaps of the Statue of Liberty. He entertained the crowd with his zeal, jokingly suggesting his home was divided into two countries, with a King and a Queen – and that after gaining her Masters, his wife was winning!
By the end of his speech however, one of never giving up on your dreams, the audience were visibly moved to tears.
“Although this is may be thought to be a doomed battle, we still go forward – we will not up on our child. We will not just continue to accompany, but will instead create our own miracles – we will turn our family’s originally black and whit life into colour. We will hold on to our brave positive dream.”
Chin-Huei also enjoyed telling the story of his daughter’s bone marrow donation. Despite losing so much, after seeing cancer patients it was her wish to donate and continue to do so. Her father hopes that if you ever encounter difficulties in life, you can perhaps think of this story…and know that in comparison they pale.
This article is a translation, all rights reserved to Now News – find the original post here.
