THE parents of a child who was suffering from thalassemia in Sichuan Province are searching for an anonymous Shenzhen woman who sponsored the boy's treatment.

Long Biaoqiang, the father of the 4-year-old child Long Miao, and Lei Yuxiang, the boy's mother, told the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily that they had been in regular touch with the samaritan, known only as Li, during the treatment of their 4-year-old son. However, they had lost contact since August.

Long Miao was diagnosed with thalassemia when he was barely 9 months old and had to receive blood transfusion each month. A bone marrow transplant was the only known cure for the disease, but a transplant could not take place as no matching marrow was found for him.

The couple, whose blood tests showed they were carrying thalassemia genes, decided to have a second child to produce bone marrow that could save Long Miao. However, they were warned that there was a possibility that the newborn could also be thalassemic.

Their second child, Long Jintao, born in 2003, was found to have a healthy matching marrow for his brother, but a transplant would cost 150,000 yuan (US$18,496), which the parents could not afford.

Their story became known all over the country after being broadcast by CCTV on April 20, 2005.

A Shenzhen woman calling herself Li contacted the couple on the same day, and said she could help them. Li paid 60,000 yuan to the hospital and frequently called the parents before and after the transplant.

They tried many times to contact Li after the boy recovered in October. However they failed, since Li's mobile phone was always switched off.

"My son would not have survived without the samaritan's help," the father said in a call from Sichuan. "We wonder what happens to her and are worried about it. We want to thank her personally."

Thalassemia is a group of inherited blood disorders that can cause anemia.

Editor: Wing