His daughter Yuan-chi’s health took a turn for the worse yesterday (Aug 18) and veteran Taiwanese singer Yu Tian had to face a heartbreaking dilemma that no parent should endure.
The 74-year-old spoke to Taiwanese reporters outside the hospital today and said Yuan-chi, 38, has been drifting in and out of consciousness.
When asked if he managed to speak to her, Yu Tian broke down in tears and replied: “She gestured to me and begged me to let her go. But how could I bear to do so?
“I told her no and she gestured to me again to say ‘please, just let me go’. How could I be so cruel?”
Yu Tian’s wife, fellow veteran singer Li Ya-ping, was also seen crying in grief at the hospital, Apple Daily Taiwan reported.
Describing her condition as “bleak”, Yuan-chi’s manager shared with reporters that she is suffering from hydronephrosis, a swelling of the kidneys due to a build-up of urine.
Yesterday, Yu Tian was heading to a political press conference when he received news from the hospital that Yuan-chi’s condition had deteriorated.
Yu Tian, who rose to prominence with the 1977 Mandarin classic Under the Banyan Tree, was also admitted to hospital last month after suffering a mild stroke.
Last month, Ya-ping described that Yuan-chi was at a critical stage, with doctors telling her that nothing more could be done. The cancer cells have spread to other parts of her body, rendering chemotherapy useless.
“Her thigh and calves are about as thick as our arms now. It really breaks my heart,” Ya-ping said at that time.
Yuan-chi, a singer and mother of two young children, has been battling colorectal cancer for the past eight years. According to Chinese news media, she suffered three relapses over the years and has undergone close to 70 rounds of chemotherapy treatment.
This article was first published on AsiaOne and republished on theAsianparent with permission.