Cousins Shi Guizhen (17 year old, right) and Wu Xiuhui (19 year old, left), both suffer of chronic nephritis, a kidney disease, as result to exposure to heavy metals. They are residents of Naguang village, Changle township in Huayuan county, an area with lead and zinc mines, causing dangerously high levels of soil and water pollution.
Shi Guizhen began to feel sick on September 1, 2015.
At the hospital she was diagnosed with renal failure and chronic nephritis. Her condition improved after getting hemodialysis. However, Shi Guizhen’s is no longer able to go to school and her only way to survive is getting hemodialysis three times a week.
Shi Guizhen and her cousin Wu Xiuhui, rent a house near the Huayuan People's Hospital, so that they can more easily get the treatments every other day. The average annual medical expenses for Shi Guizhen is more than 57,000 yuan, of which about 18,000 yuan she has to pay herself, the rest is reimbursed by medical insurance.
Wu Xiuhui, whose father died ten years ago while working at the lead and zinc factory, uses her father's compensation for death, 230,000 yuan, to pay for her medical costs.