Zhou Daoming, who was forced to work as a slave for 14 years at a brick kiln in Shanxi province, breathes with the aid of a life-support machine on Thursday in the intensive care unit at Xiangtan Central Hospital in Hunan province. Yang Shuhuai / for China Daily

A typical migrant worker from Hunan province would have to work three years to make 22,220 yuan ($3,267), based on the official data.

But Zhou Daoming, a native from Xiangtan in Hunan province, has received 20,000 yuan in compensation, plus a 1,000-yuan allowance from the local government's labor bureau, for his 14 years of work at illegal brick kilns in Shanxi province.

Even worse, the 45-year-old is now in critical condition in hospital, with medical bills of 8,000 yuan for just two days of care.

As of Friday, Zhou was living with the aid of a life-support machine and drips in the intensive care unit at Xiangtan Central Hospital.

He arrived at the hospital on Wednesday and underwent a three-hour operation that afternoon, where half of his small intestine was removed because it was not functioning, the Changsha-based Morning Herald reported on Friday.

He has other complications, including diffusive peritonitis, infective shock, acute renal insufficiency and multiple organ failure.

Any of these might take his life at any time, the newspaper said.

His doctor, Ma Tiexiang, said the possible cause of his problems might be previous abdominal wounds, or the poor conditions at Zhou's home.

Zhou's home is in Shunjiang village of Xiangtan, which is located along the Xiangjiang River and often faces flood threats. Both his 73-year-old father and his mother are disabled. He has three brothers.

Zhou's mother recalled that her son disappeared from home the afternoon of Dec 22, 1992.

On June 26, 2007, Zhou was sent back home by authorities from Shanxi province. The unkempt man was in shreds and tatters.

His return was a surprise for the family. His mother thought the skinny son in front of her had long since passed away.

Zhou told local reporters at the time that he had been sent to work at illegal brick kilns. He had to wake up every day before sunrise to face an 18 to 19-hour work day. He and his co-workers were watched by five men with hatchets and two wolfhounds. Zhou said they were never allowed outside and he slept on a wooden board.

The laborers were fed steamed bread and cabbage. The youngest of them was 8 years old.

Neighbors said Zhou was no longer the good-looking and plump person he used to be.

With a deep scar on his head and a few teeth missing, Zhou was identified as having a cognitive disorder. Wang Ying, a Xiangtan-based lawyer, started helping Zhou in 2007 with his rights protection.

In the following three years, Wang and his colleagues collected evidence that showed Zhou had worked at three other illegal brick kilns since March 2004. Bosses of the kilns and the Shanxi labor bureau then paid Zhou compensation and an allowance.

Clues to Zhou's experience before 2004 vanished. The victim's bad health condition made the investigation even harder.

Tou Jiangming, a well-known journalist, said in his microblog: "As far as I know, Zhou is the victim who suffered the longest time from illegal brick kilns."

"The existence of such illegal kilns reveals a deficiency in the local government and a money-oriented society. There are still tons of problems with victims' rights protection," he said.