Unicorn emojis help young artist fight disease

Screenshot of Nini's unicorn cartoons.

Swiping through cartoons of chubby white unicorns with light pink bellies and different expressions — her favorites — on her phone, she was ready to get back to work after a whole night's recovery from the latest round of dialysis.

For the 23-year-old Nini — an alias — in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, being diagnosed with uremia three years ago might have been the hardest part of her young life. But the popularity of cute digital emojis based on her unicorn cartoons must be the most inspiring.

The emojis, called The Chubby Is A Union, have been downloaded by over 200,000 users since their recent debut online. They have also received rewards from 33,711 netizens through WeChat payment as of 11 am Friday.

"Unicorns are magic. I hope they can bring luck and warm hearts," said Nini, who drew them to raise money for her treatment.

Screenshot of the 16 unicorn emojis.