BEIJING • An eight-year-old American boy with terminal cancer has prompted thousands of Chinese Internet users to post photos online in support after he told his father he wanted to be famous in the Asian country before dying.

Dorian Murray was diagnosed with the paediatric soft tissue cancer rhabdomyosarcoma at the age of four. Earlier this month, his family decided to stop treatment after discovering the disease had spread to his spinal cord and brain.

The Rhode Island boy told his father that before he "goes to heaven" he "would like to be famous in China... because they have that bridge", referring to the Great Wall. The family posted the conversation on their public Facebook page "Praying for Dorian" on Monday, and it has since gone viral online in China.

It has been translated and reposted on Chinese sites, with thousands of people uploading photos of themselves at the Great Wall and other locations, many with signs displaying the family's hashtag #D-Strong.

Dorian's family said online they were "completely in awe" at the response.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE