A 42-year-old woman who lost her only son – a firefighter – gave birth to a baby girl last week, the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University said on Wednesday.
Liu Jie, her son, lost his life while fighting a fire in a residential building on Longwu Road, Xuhui District, on May 1, 2014. He was pushed out of a window on the 13th floor by the heat.
Liu, who was only 20 years old at the time, was working in Shanghai, but his family is in Kunshan City of neighboring Jiangsu Province. After the incident, he was recognized as a hero by China’s Ministry of Public Security.
Ying Xianmei, Liu’s mother, was so grieved over the loss of her son that she tried to have a new baby, again without luck, until Shanghai Fire Corps connected her with assisted reproduction specialists at the hospital last year.
After five tries, Ying, who has a history of ectopic pregnancies and was left without both uterine tubes, was confirmed to be pregnant in November last year.
“I felt my son was coming back to me,” she recalled.
The hospital said its experts successfully dealt with her high blood sugar, high blood pressure and kidney stones during the pregnancy.
Officials from Shanghai Fire Corps have visited Ying at the hospital to offer their congratulations.
