Man in His 70s in Critical Condition with Cancer While Serving Time for His Faith

(Minghui.org) A man in his 70s is in critical condition after developing bowel cancer and liver cancer two years after he was arrested for practicing Falun Gong.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Teng Yuguo of Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, was arrested on October 13, 2020, while harvesting pumpkins with his wife in their yard. One officer punched him in the face so hard that he bled. The Yuhong District Court informed his wife on February 19, 2021, that he was scheduled for a hearing the next day, leaving her with no time to hire a lawyer. The judge later sentenced him to five years in Dongling Prison. 

Mr. Teng’s family recently learned that he developed colon cancer about six months ago, which had already spread to the liver. When the prison finally allowed them to visit him in recent weeks, they were devastated to see the emaciated man sitting in a wheelchair. His legs were severely swollen. He was also wearing a diaper due to incontinence. 

A prison guard told the family that the tumors in Mr. Teng’s intestines had caused bowel obstruction. They estimated that he only had a few months left.

The guard said to the family that they could either send Mr. Teng to the elderly ward, so he didn’t have to do the forced labor; or they could take him to the hospital for treatment, but the family had to pay for the medical cost. It’s not clear how his family responded.

Prior to the visitation, the prison had denied his family from visiting him and also limited the amount of cash they could deposit for him to 100 yuan every month, with the excuse that he didn’t renounce Falun Gong. With most of the money used to buy diapers, Mr. Teng didn’t have much left to buy extra food. 

Mr. Teng’s family said he was very healthy before being arrested and they questioned what the prison did to him that caused him to develop cancer so quickly.

Became a Better Person after Taking up Falun Gong

Before taking up Falun Gong, Mr. Teng was addicted to drinking. He often fought with others and was detained several times for assault. In the 1980s, he kicked a strong man blind. His father paid the man 30,000 yuan as compensation. Unable to bear that kind of life, his wife almost divorced him.

In the early 1990s, both Mr. Teng and his father began to practice Falun Gong. He quit smoking and drinking, lived by Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and no longer fought with anyone. His wife was able to enjoy a peaceful life at home and gave up the idea of divorcing him.

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