24-year-old Li Qin, who lives in Buffalo, New York, is in an intensive care unit, relying on a variety of treatments to stay alive. She suffers from congenital connective tissue hypoplasia syndrome, and her doctor has said she only has half a year to one year left. Li hopes she can find her biological parents in her last days to say "thank you" to them for giving her life.
As a baby girl, Li was abandoned on a chair in the outpatient department of Zhenjiang First People's Hospital on March 22, 1993. A red paper with her date of birth and other information left there. She was then sent to Zhenjiang Welfare Center. An American single mother adopted Li when she was two years old. The only connection between Li and China is the card, sent by Zhenjiang Welfare Center.
Li plans to set foot on the path of tracing biological parents in China in March of 2018, along with her mother and care worker. Although the odds of finding her biological parents are slim, she is still looking forward to the trip. "I want to find the hospital staff who found me and the red paper. I also want to see the people who sent cards from Zhenjiang Welfare Center. I want to thank them for their help," Li said.
