Father burns son with steamy folk cure

Feifei recovers in Yinbin, Sichuan Province after he slipped into a large pot of boiling medical broth. His father had instructed him to sit on a stool placed in the pot in order to better breathe in the herbal vapor. Photo: people.com.cn

The hollowed-out stool upon which 10-year-old Feifei sat in a pot of boiling medicinal broth. His father had him do so in order to help cure his "lung heat". Photo: people.com.cn

A 10-year-old boy is receiving treatment for severe burns sustained while undergoing a folk remedy that involved sitting in a boiling pot to breathe in herbal vapors.

Feifei (pseudonym) was brought to a local clinic in Yibin, Sichuan Province with burns on his thighs after he slipped off the stool his father had placed in a large, shallow pot of simmering Chinese medicine.

"I was scared and didn't want to sit on that stool," said Feifei.

Duan Lishu had wrapped his son in a bamboo sleeping mat and capped it with a quilt to better trap the vapor from medicine concocted to cure his "lung heat."

"He had not gotten better after some other treatment," explained the father. "I heard that people in the past used medicinal vapor and it worked well," he said.

Neighbors explained people only turn to such home remedies as a last resort.

"In the past, people sometimes turned to it for lack of decent medical care," commented a neighbor.

The family has no medical insurance and relies solely on the father Duan's income as a motorcycle taxi driver. Feifei's mother suffers from epilepsy.

"I hope I can get better soon, so I can go out to play," said Feifei.