A loving parent will do anything to protect and save their child. This couldn’t have been more true than in the case of Mr Xu Wei.
His two-year-old son is suffering from Menkes Syndrome, a genetic disorder with symptoms that impact how copper is processed in his body. As those with the condition rarely survive beyond the age of three, it is unlikely that the toddler will live beyond some months.
It is more so unfortunate that the only medicine to help treat his Menkes Syndrome symptoms is not available anywhere in China.
With borders closed due to the pandemic making it impossible to travel for treatment, Mr Xu Wei has taken it upon himself to make medicine to help his son.
Dad Sets Up Laboratory At Home To Make Medicine For His Son
Image source: Facebook / AFP News Agency
When his son, Haoyang, was diagnosed with Menkes Syndrome, Mr Xu Wei was determined to give him “a fighting chance.” In his desperation to treat the toddler’s critical illness, Xu created a home laboratory where he could prepare the remedy for Haoyang himself.
When he found out that the disease was incurable and the only medication that could help ease the Menkes Syndrome symptoms was not available in China, Xu began researching and studying pharmaceuticals.
Despite most online documents about Menkes Syndrome being written in English, the Chinese dad pushed forward and used translation software to understand them. It was later one when he set up a home lab in his father’s gym.
“I didn’t really have time to think about whether to do it or not. It had to be done,” said the 30-year-old dad as per AFP. He also recalls that his family and friends were against it as they said it was ‘impossible.’
He adds, “Even though he cannot move or speak, he has a soul and feels emotions.”
Treating His Son’s Menkes Syndrome Symptoms
Image source: iStock
Mr Xu gives his son a daily dose of homemade medicine that gives him some of the copper his body is missing. He claims that a few blood tests returned to normal two weeks after he began the treatment.
After discovering how copper histadine could help, Mr Xu began setting up the equipment to create it himself. He would mix copper chloride dihydrate with histidine, sodium hydroxide and water. He produced his first vial after six weeks.
To test the medicine he created, Xu experimented with rabbits before he injected it into his own body. When he found no side effects in the rabbits or himself, he tried it on his son.
If it were under normal circumstances, he would have travelled abroad to bring back treatments for Haoyang. But since China has largely closed its borders due to COVID-19, the amateur chemist is unable to travel to specialist centres overseas.
Mr Xu has also accepted that the medicine is not a cure and that it can “only slow down the disease.”
Other parents with children who also have Menkes Syndrome symptoms even contacted Xu, requesting he made treatment for their relatives as well. Mr Xu refused as he says, “I can only be responsible for my child.”
Meanwhile, health authorities said they will not intervene as long as he only makes the treatment for home use.
Despite his friends trying to talk him out of his medical efforts, the young father is determined to do everything he can to protect his son. He even plans to study molecular biology at university.
“I don’t want him to wait desperately for death. Even if we fail, I want my son to have hope,” says Haoyang’s dad.
Lead image source from Facebook / AFP News Agency.
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