Shi Guizhen, 17 year old, resident of Naguang village, Changle township in Huayuan county, began to feel sick on September 1, 2015.
At the hospital she was diagnosed with kidney failure and chronic nephritis. Her condition improved after getting hemodialysis. However, she is no longer able to go to school and her only way to survive is getting hemodialysis three times a week.
Shi Guizhen and her cousin Wu Xiuhui, 19 year old, who suffers from the same disease, rent a house near the Huayuan People's Hospital, so that they can more easily get the treatments every other day. Here Shi Guizhen is with her grandmother, temporarily back in her hometown.
Two decades of lead and zinc mining in the province has taken a major toll. Kidney failure is one of the health impacts that can be caused by exposure to heavy metals.