Woman Marries Terminal Cancer Patient for Kidney Donation

Wang Xiao, a 24-year-old from Shaanxi diagnosed with life-threatening uremia and told she had about a year to live without a transplant, posted in a cancer support group seeking a terminally ill man who would marry her so she could receive his kidney after his death. Media reports say she married a cancer patient in 2013 under that agreement, though outlets give varying names for the man. She cared for him through treatment in return for the promised donation, and their practical arrangement gradually deepened into mutual affection as she supported him through chemotherapy and raised funds for his care by selling handmade bouquets. By mid-2014 his condition had stabilized and her health improved enough that doctors suggested she might not need a transplant, and the couple later celebrated with a wedding banquet. The story has resurfaced in Chinese media as an uplifting but ethically debated tale and was later adapted into the film Viva La Vida.