Woman’s ‘Joke’ She Would Marry for Cash Raises $125,000 to Save Sister With Leukemia

A devoted woman from China managed to exceed expected funds required for her younger sister’s leukemia treatment after she jokingly told the media that she would get married to help her pay the hospital bill.

Cui Qiao set a fundraising target of 500,000 yuan ($78,000) for her 14-year-old sister Cui Xiao’s cancer treatment with the help of the teenager’s school in Wuyi County in eastern China’s Zhejiang Province, according to The Paper.

Unfortunately, the school did not raise enough money, and her family is having trouble financially as their father only earns about 1,000 yuan ($156) per month as a sanitation worker while their mother is disabled, according to South China Morning Post.

Cui, the only family member who was able to earn enough money, had to drop her job as a kindergarten teacher to watch and care for her little sister after her first round of chemotherapy at a hospital in Zhengzhou, the capital of central China’s Henan Province.

Cui was quoted by the media joking that she’d be willing to get married if it could help her family with all the medical bills.

She did not expect the joke to help her generate publicity for her fundraising effort, and the donations she received suddenly exceeded the target amount, which is now at 800,000 yuan ($125,156).

“At first I didn’t want people knowing my family was so miserable,” Cui said. “Reality forced me to say that sentence. For my sister, I will do the best I can.”

It is unclear if the hospital is looking or have already found a bone marrow match for the transplant surgery. Besides raising money, Cui is also willing to be a donor if tests prove that she is a match for her younger sister.