Cancer-stricken child, three, tells his mother not to cry because they can't afford treatment

"Mum, don't cry": Three-year-old Li Junyang wipes tears off his devastated mother in Shanghai. Photo / Weibo

This is the heart-breaking moment a critically ill boy comforted his distraught mother after his parents could no longer afford his treatment.

Three-year-old Li Junyang, from east China, suffers from a rare cancer and had undergone two open-chest operations, seven radiotherapy sessions and seven chemotherapy sessions.

His parents had spent all their savings and run into £22,000 ($42,000) debts, but the doctors said they would need £51,000 ($98,000) more - an astronomical figure for the farming family, reports Daily Mail.

The desperate couple were forced to stop treating their son last month after none of their friends or relatives could lend them money any more, according to a charity.

The tear-jerking pictures were taken after Junyang's parents had argued in their tiny rented room in Shanghai, the founder of the Dahe Charity in China said in a blogpost.

The Dahe Charity said they took Junyang to Xinhua Hospital in Shanghai in June in order to seek better medical resources.

The organisation also said both of Junyang's parents had to stop working in order to look after the boy.

Junyang and his mother, Qu Lifang, both break down in tears in their rented flat in Shanghai. Photo / Weibo

"When a child has a serious illness, both parents would have to quit their jobs. That's the reality of China," the charity's founder told MailOnline.

In a video released by Dahe's founder, Junyang's mother Qu Lifang cried in tears: "We really don't have any other ways. My husband and I argue every day because of money."

Seeing his mother had become so sad, Junyang gently wiped tears off his mother's faces before telling her "mum, don't cry".

Junyang was diagnosed with neuroblastoma last October when he was two and a half years old, said the charity.

It is said that Junyang was living with his parents, an elder brother and his grandparents in Fuyang when he fell ill.

He was given an emergency operation three days after the diagnose and has since been taken from one hospital to another by his parents who were determined to save their child.

Sadly, Qu Lifang and her husband, Li Hebiao, soon spent their savings and had to borrow money from their friends and relatives.

Last month, the couple were told by doctors in Shanghai that Junyang would need to undergo chemotherapy for at least one more year and he might also need a transplant; therefore the could would need a further 450,000 yuan (£51,465), according to the charity.

Junyang and his parents pose for a picture before the child was found to have cancer. Photo / Weibo

They had to bring the boy back to their tiny flat in Shanghai's Yangpu District until they could find more money.

Dahe reached out to the couple after hearing about their story and helped them set up a donation page online.

The crowd-funding campaign has managed to raise 450,362 yuan (£51,506), which would be enough to treat Junyang.

With Dahe's help, Junyang was able to resume his treatment on August 3 in the Children's Hospital in Anhui.

The road to recovery for the child, however, is still long and challenging.

It is said that Junyang suffered from pain on the leg after his chemotherapy in July, a sign that his cancer could have spread to his bones.

He reportedly started to have high fever from yesterday and the hospital is currently accessing the necessity and feasibility of further chemotherapy for him.

The hospital said that Junyang would have to undergo transplant if the result of the chemotherapy doesn't improve.