Woman dresses as Pikachu to raise money for family's medical fees

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A 71-year-old Chinese woman, dressed in a costume of Japanese cartoon figure Pikachu, caught people’s attention on the Internet recently. The woman, identified as Mrs. Han, performed on the streets in east China’s Shandong Province so as to raise money to pay the medical fees of her three relatives, who were all suffering from either physical disabilities or critical illnesses.

Photo from Youth.cn

Han’s daughter, diagnosed with brain tumor, lost her eyesight in 2007. Han spent all of her savings for her daughter's treatment. One year later, Han’s husband who worked for a construction site, accidentally fell off from a building and broke one leg. Han had run out of money to pay for her husband’s surgery this time.

Bad things happened one after another. Life tricked Han again when her son-in-law, who used to be the main financial support of her family, was paralyzed last year.

Left with no other choice, Han became the only one capable to do work to feed her family now. Unemployed, Han decided to perform on the streets and malls in a Pikachu costume, charging 9 yuan (1.3 US dollars) for every person who wants to take a photo with her.

Photo from Youth.cn

“I can’t give up,” Han told a reporter, adding that she’s the only hope of her family.

According to Xinhua, China’s State Council issued a health plan in January. It aims to build an efficient medical security system that will cover the entire population with basic medical insurance, and insurance for major diseases by 2020.