Singer succumbs in China

Liang “Mike” Zhang (pictured), the young opera singer and former Chico resident who became sick in China, has died, his wife’s family has reported.

Zhang, who was 34, had been in two Chinese hospitals after becoming seriously ill with pancreatitis and lapsing into a coma more than two months ago (see “Chico singer clings to life in China,” CN&R, Nov. 8). He’d undergone numerous surgeries as doctors struggled to deal with a series of internal bleeds. He’d been doing better lately, said Joyce Delmatier, whose granddaughter Abigail was Zhang’s wife, but the doctors were unable to stop a recent bleed, and on Wednesday, Nov. 28, “he slipped away.” He had never regained consciousness.

Zhang’s wife and her father, Karl Delmatier, were in China with him. His brother and father were also there.

Joyce Delmatier said the family was deeply grateful for an outpouring of support from the Chico community and the more than $30,000 in financial help they had received.