Kong Wei (C) [www.anhuinews.com]     

A teacher who has kept working while fighting cancer for the past 12 years recently shared her inspiring story with reporters.

Kong Wei, 37, is a teacher at Anhui Foreign Economic Vocational and Technical College in the east China province.

Since she was a child, becoming a teacher had always been her dream. Full of passion, Kong started her teaching career at the college after graduating from university.

Unexpectedly, she was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 25. Her whole family was heartbroken that day.

Her sister who had come to visit her found her hair had fallen out. "At that moment, I had to accept the fact that my beloved sister had developed cancer," she recalled. 

However, Kong, who was optimistic by nature, was not beaten by the disease. She actively cooperated with the treatment and struggled hard throughout the process.

Shortly after the surgery, she was discharged from the hospital, and she resolved to go back to school, as she could not bear to let her students down, nor did she want to give up her education career.

"I regard each student as my own child," she says. In Kong's eyes, each child is unique, and each individual is equally important. 

Later, she chose to forget her illness and transform the love she received from people at school and society into a source of motivation for her work.

She is always busy writing lesson plans, selecting textbooks, solving the internship problems of students, and holding various professional competitions.

In just a few years, Kong has achieved outstanding results in her work and led students to win many provincial competition awards.

Kong especially dislikes taking about her cancer. Whenever a school colleague brings up the topic, she would respond by saying everything is fine.

Kong got married in 2011. Although the wedding was simple, her husband's love and care gave her tremendous energy.

In 2013, Kong's situation deteriorated again: her breast cancer had spread. A review found that cancer cells had invaded her bone marrow and brain.

The bad news also came with high treatment costs. According to her doctor, Kong had to have radiation and chemotherapy and take new inhibitory drugs for treatment, but the medicine currently costs 200,000 yuan a year and the treatment must continue.

During a span of 12 years, Kong has been going to hospital every month for a review. Twelve rounds of chemotherapy have left her with thin bones. Even though standing in front of the classroom giving a lesson means tremendous physical suffering for her and causes numbness in her legs, she just wouldn't give up her teaching.

"I love my students and my work. Only by standing on the platform, looking at all those pairs of eyes, can I forget the torment of the disease," said Kong.