Student fights leukemia in between class

Research project became lifeline for Liu Zechang during chemotherapy

When doctors diagnosed 25-year-old Liu Zechang with leukemia five years ago, he was dumbfounded.

"I'd always been healthy. Leukemia was something I'd never even thought about," he recalled.

Confined to a sterile ward during his initial 45 days of chemotherapy, he grappled with visceral fear. "The scariest moment was when I fainted after standing up — doctors rushed in and I realized this disease could kill me," he said.