AT 3:00am August 3, Wang Mingcheng, 49, a terminally ill cancer patient died at home in great pain and to the great grief of his family who were distressed at his suffering.

Since last February, he had been trying to apply for euthanasia but it was refused by the hospital. However, even at the last moment of his life, it appears he still wanted to live.

Seventeen years ago, in 1986, Wang convinced Doctor Pu Liansheng to grant euthanasia to his mother, Xia Suwen, who was dying from cirrhosis of the liver.

On June 28, 1986, Doctor Pu in the Hepatitis Section of the Inpatient Department at the Hanzhong Infectious Disease Hospital in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province prescribed a fatal dose of a drug for the mother at the request of Wang and his sister.

On the prescription, Pu noted: "The family members request the mercy killing" and Wang signed his assent.

After being injected with the drug to quicken her death, the mother died early the next morning.

In September 1987, the Hanzhong Municipal Prosecutor approved the arrest of Pu and Wang accusing them of intentional homicide and began proceedings against them in the Hanzhong People's Court the following February.

The first mercy killing case led to a nationwide debate on euthanasia and the Supreme People's Congress got involved.

At a public trial in April 1992, Hanzhong People's Court found the two defendants - the son and the doctor - not guilty.

Seventeen years later, Wang's wife found herself facing the same situation her husband faced with his dying mother. Wang was dying from cancer of the stomach and liver.

After Wang was diagnosed with cancer, doctors removed three-quarters of his stomach but the cancer had spread to his liver. Due to the family's poor financial situation - Wang's wife was jobless and his monthly salary was only about 300 yuan (US$36) - Wang wasn't able to afford chemotherapy.

In January, Wang was hospitalized again and his condition continued to deteriorate. In February, Wang for the first time requested mercy killing from the hospital but was told: "It's impossible. There is no law about mercy killing in force in China."

On July 4, Wang gave up his treatment in hospital and went home. He had realized that the only thing left for him to do was stay with his family and wait for death.

"I know my family has spent a lot of money on my treatment and I don't want to be such a heavy burden on my family. I don't want them to live so hard after my death so I want a mercy killing," Wang told the Shanghai Morning Post.

No one knows whether Wang gave up his willingness to accept euthanasia at the last moment of his life, but the fact is that he couldn't leave the world in the quiet and peaceful way he achieved for his mother did 17 years ago.

As the newspaper reported, Wang's last words were: "I want to live!" And after crying out he lost consciousness and his heart stopped beating two hours later - an expression of his hopeless and helpless feelings.