When Zhu Lijun was rescued from the ruins on May 12 in Sichuan Province, the lower part of her body was completely numb due to a fracture in her lumbar vertebra.

But she was well cared for after being transferred to Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital in Hangzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province; nurses turned and cleaned her body gently once every two hours. Her bedside cabinet was covered with flowers, fruits, milk and even a radio bequeathed by the hospital staff. Tu Jinbiao, Zhu's husband said, "Hospital staff tends to her needs quite well and volunteers chat with her."

Zhu was one of many of the injured in the devastated earthquake sent to a hospital outside Sichuan Province for better medical care. Doctors and nurses in hospitals across China are trying their best to reduce both the physical and psychological pains of their patients.

At age of 53, Ren Lizheng was injured in a mud-rock flow caused by the earthquake when it struck his hometown of Lixian in Sichuan. His intestines hemorrhaged. To save his life, the head surgeon at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital operated on him after doing a thorough examination.

Yang Wei, injured in the earthquake that hit Sichuan on May 12, calls his family from the Sir Run Run Shaw hospital in Zhejiang Province. The hospital provides free long-distance calls for all earthquake victims wishing to contact their families. (photo: Xinhua News Agency)

According to a rough assessment, about 25 percent of the patients sent to the hospital in Hangzhou have psychological problems–they feel nervous, anxious, agitated and pessimistic about the future. Wu Weili, a nurse with Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital said, "Some patients are too horrified to sleep at night, so we nurses hold their hands and chat with them. In this way we lull all the patients to fall asleep."

A volunteer working at the hospital wrote in his diary: "They (the nurses) are the most beautiful angels; they unfold their wings to appease the pain (of the patients)."

When Fang Lunquan was sent to the No.1 Hospital affiliated to the School of Medicine in Zhejiang University, nobody knew his name. He had received a severe concussion and doctor Chen Jian operated on him. But Chen was not satisfied with simply saving the patient's life. He contacted the police in Sichuan to get information concerning Fang's identity and his family. The doctor said that he would do whatever he could to help his patients.

Besides hospital treatment, the nurses at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital have escorted some of the less injured patients to West Lake to relax. They hope these outings can ease their patients' loneliness and homesickness. "When you get better, the doctor will take us to West Lake," Jia Xueyu, Ren's wife told him.

(China.org.cn by Wu Jin, June 3, 2008)