A Chinese boy's dreams of flight were fulfilled by a compassionate airline staff.
A boy identified as Li Haifeng by XinHua News, wished for "a pair of wings" to help him fly after an accident two years ago led to the amputation of both of his legs, China Daily reported. China Eastern Airlines fulfilled the 4-year-old's wish last Wednesday, when it made the boy a "pilot" for the day. Li took a tour of a plane, and even had the opportunity to visit the cockpit, taking a seat alongside the pilot.
Li Haifeng playing to a model airplane.
"It was the first time for the boy to see a real plane. He was extremely happy," Li Liangbin, a representative from the airline said, according to XinHua News.
The 4-year-old on a China Eastern Airlines employee's shoulders.
On top of the tour, the airline has offered to fly Li home from the hospital, where he has been receiving treatment, when he is ready to be released, the outlet reported. The flight would serve as the 4-year-old's first plane ride.
And though the people of China Eastern Airlines have given the boy a moment to remember, they aren't the only ones helping the young amputee. Li, who comes from a low-income migrant family, first gained attention in China when a video uploaded last week captured him happily dancing to a popular Chinese song, "Little Apple," on his hospital bed. Since then the boy and his family have received donations totaling more than 500,000 yuan (about $80,000) toward his treatment from the online community, XinHua reported.
The acts of kindness are all for a boy who, many say, has moved them with his resilient spirit.
"Everyone at the hospital loves him," a volunteer at the hospital where Li is being treated told Sina.com, according to The Straits Times. "His cheerfulness and optimism has infected people around him."
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