Swollen face looking like a hippo: a young boy longs to live a normal life

A 5-year old Chinese boy has a face that keeps swelling, making it difficult for him to breathe and eat normally, but his parents can’t do much about it as they can’t afford the heavy expenses for an operation.

Surnamed Tian, the Hubei boy is suffering from a hereditary disease, and the serious swelling is affecting his breathing and eating, but his parents’ farming income totals no more than 3,000 yuan a month, and cannot pay for the treatment.

His condition worsened recently and he could risk suffocating, so his mother had no option but to borrow 5,000 yuan and took him to Shanghai for treatment. As they didn’t arrive till late, they had to wait overnight at the hospital. Not only did the mother not sleep a wink, but she had to make sure the son did not fall asleep either, because any relaxation of his nostril muscles could lead to blockage of the airway.

The doctor decided to treat Tian using an air incision method, but this could only bring temporary relief. For a permanent cure, he will need to undergo bone incision by stages, followed by reconstruction. The entire procedure can cost up to 700,000 yuan which is well beyond the means of the family.

Little Tian likes to draw and write, and hopes he can attend school. He sometimes takes a selfie with the iphone and then tries to edit the picture to make himself look good. He longs to be able to live a normal life and says, “How I wish I can inhale the fresh air!”

Tian’s situation has aroused widespread concern, and somebody has posted it online with the hope that he can gain a sponsorship for the operation.

MADRID (AP) — Portugal 's parliament on Friday approved a bill banning face veils worn for “gender or religious” reasons in public, in a move seen as targeting the face coverings worn by some Muslim women.

The measure was proposed by the far-right Chega party and would prohibit coverings such as burqas — a full-body garment that covers a woman from head to foot — and niqabs — the full-face Islamic veil with space around the eyes — from being worn in most public places. Face veils would still be allowed in airplanes, diplomatic premises and places of worship.

The bill stipulates fines for those wearing face veils in public ranging between 200 euros and 4,000 euros ($234 and $4,669).

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa still has to approve the bill. He could veto it or send it to the Constitutional Court for review.

If signed into law, Portugal would join a number of European countries such as Austria, France, Belgium and the Netherlands who have full or partial bans on face and head coverings.

Not many women in Portugal wear such coverings, but the issue of Islamic veils has generated controversy similar to other European countries.

Chega cited France and other European Union countries' rationales for banning face coverings commonly worn by Muslim women. The far-right Portuguese party received support for the bill from center-right parties.

In its bill, Chega said that hiding the face subjects individuals — especially women — "to situations of exclusion and inferiority" and was incompatible with principles such as “liberty, equality and human dignity.”

Lawmakers from left-leaning parties disagreed.

“This initiative is used solely to target foreigners, those who have a different faith," said center-left Socialist Party lawmaker Pedro Delgado Alves whose party voted against the bill.

He said that while no woman should be forced to wear a veil, the far-right party's approach was wrong.

FILE - Members of opposition parties stand to vote against a government confidence motion at the Portuguese parliament in Lisbon, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca, file)