Thread: Chinese immigrant bailed out by last minute visa for sister

I was on the subway on the way to work when I read this today. Notice how there is no mention of sending him back to his country of origin. I was surprised they even admitted he was an Illegal Alien. I must be cold hearted because I didn't tear up reading this SOB story. Also notice how the BILL will be paid is NOT mentioned.

Chinese immigrant bailed out by last minute visa for sister to give marrow

BY Jake Pearson and Larry Mcshane
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Sunday, August 9th 2009, 4:00 AM
Bates for News

Alyu Lin (right) arrived from China to be reunited with her brother Li Luan Lin. She will be a bone marrow donor for her brother who suffers from Leukemia.

As children in China, Li Luan Lin and his kid sister shared toys, smiles and a secret something neither one knew: matching bone marrow.

The last one might save his life.

Alyu Lin, 22, arrived from China with a hastily issued visa last week in hopes of helping her leukemia-stricken brother with a last-minute marrow transplant.

"Whatever it takes to cure my brother, I will do it," she said through tears after their emotional reunion in Brooklyn on Friday. "I'm not afraid."

The sister brought her brother a bagful of clothes from their home in the Fujian Province, placing a black hat on his head after arriving at Kennedy Airport.

The two are headed tomorrow to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center to figure out a schedule for the transplant.

"We have a really good relationship," Li Luan Lin said of his sister. "We played together as kids."

It was less than a year ago that the undocumented Chinese immigrant thought his life was over. He was diagnosed with the blood-borne cancer last November. By March, he was unconscious and near death.

The 25-year-old hoped to arrange visas for his parents to pay one final visit.

But in a last-ditch effort to save his life, doctors in New York and China compared his bone marrow with his sister's - and found it was a perfect match.

"I feel very happy, because there's hope," said Lin as he awaited his sister's arrival. "I feel very grateful."

The siblings last saw one another in March 2007, when Lin left for the U.S. He lived in a dormitory for young men in Chinatown, working as a busboy in local restaurants.

But Lin's joints became achy, and he went in for testing. The results were grim: He had leukemia.

Lin went to the United Fujian Association in Chinatown for help. They in turn reached out to City Council member John Liu, who tried to arrange for tourist visas to bring in Lin's parents.

"His only wish was to see his family again," Liu said Saturday.

Instead of his parents, Lin welcomed his sister - and a possible chance at beating his disease, although cancer patients are warned a bone marrow transplant is no cure-all.

The first two-to-four weeks are critical, with the patient isolated inside a single room with limited visitors. No fresh fruits, vegetables, plants, or cut flowers are allowed in the room because of the dire risk of infection.

Alyu Lin plans to stick around for her brother's recovery, since her visa is good for one year.

"I wasn't optimistic about getting a visa," she said. "But now that I've got it, I'm ecstatic."

After their initial meeting, the brother and sister traded good-natured sibling barbs.

"I think he's slimmed down," said Alyu, looking at her now 113-pound brother.

"I think she got a little fat," he replied.

lmcshane@nydailynews.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bro ... z0Nq7IXDMt

I'm sure a bone marrow transplant is a procedure that can be performed in China.

It could be performed in China, probably. But instead US taxpayers will get billed about 100,000 dollars.

The siblings last saw one another in March 2007, when Lin left for the U.S.

I think he might have already been aware of his health problem.

I could be wrong but...

Right, why didn't the illegal alien go home and get his transplant?

China has socialized medical care.

Dixie