By Lin Qi (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-29 13:25

Li Rongrong from Beichuan, was surrounded by medical staff and media reporters as she alighted from an ambulance in Beijing last Wednesday. She had lost her right arm in the earthquake.

The 5-year-old girl clutched her mother tightly with her other arm as she was taken to an emergency ward for treatment.

Li looked nervous as doctors and nurses prepared her for a blood transfusion and X-rays. She was then moved to a general ward where she will spend the next few months recuperating.

"Mom, where is my right arm?" she asked, after looking around at her new "home", the Beijing's Xingfu Hospital of Ever Care Medical Institute.

"It will grow back," Wang Mingxian, Li's mom, replied.

This question and answer has been repeated many times since Li's right arm was amputated on May 15 to save her life.

Li Rongrong arrives in Beijing last week for medical treatment. Xinhua

Li arrived in Beijing with Pu Hongxue and Zhu Chunyan, two 14-year-old students of Beichuan Middle School. With the support of the China Red Cross and the Yanran Angel Fund, they are the first disabled children from the quake zone to undergo further medical treatment in the capital.

Li was extricated from the debris 48 hours after the kindergarten collapsed. To the surprise of her rescuers she clearly remembered the names of her immediate relatives and their phone numbers. Her aunt has been located, but her father remains missing.

When the tremors ended, Pu's mother, a bus conductor, rushed to her school. She saw that the four-story building had been reduced to rubble. She began to search for her daughter but in vain.

She finally left exhausted and in despair. Miraculously, Pu and Zhu were rescued 72 hours later.

Pu's left arm and right leg had to be amputated. Zhu lost both of his legs. Pu is also suffering from severe injuries to the face and back which pose a high risk of infection.

The Yanran Angel Foundation will pay for all treatment, including artificial limbs for the three. Zhou Gang, a prosthetics expert, said it would take about two to three months for the injuries to heal.

They would then have to undergo six months of therapy before being fitted with the artificial limbs.

Wang Jigeng, director of the hospital, said the three children remained strong and positive, and will continue to receive psychological conseling.

More than 5,000 quake victims have been moved out of Sichuan to receive better treatment. Many have lost one or more limbs.

The China Disabled People's Federation (CDPF) has sent three teams to Sichuan to assist the disabled and to assess their rehabilitation needs. Members of the team come from Beijing, Shanghai, Liaoning and Guangdong provinces.

The CDPF has received numerous offers of wheelchairs and other medical equipment. The Li Ka Shing Foundation, has promised to provide artificial limbs and wheelchairs to all who need them.

The CDPF together with local authorities will build a comprehensive rehabilitation center for the disabled. The CDPF has also compiled a handbook on the recovery and nursing of quake-caused disabilities. More than 10,000 copies have been distributed in the quake-hit areas.

A lot of disabled people have also shown their support. On behalf of the 12 CPPCC members who are disabled, Tai Lihua, a deaf-mute dancer and head of the China Disabled People's Art Troupe, donated 110,000 yuan ($15,940) to the China Red Cross.

Li Chen, a singer who suffers from polio, has been seen at the bedside of many disabled children lending his support. "Children, disabled people can also live a good life. I too am disabled, but through years of hard work, I've become a singer."

Jin Jing, 27, a fencer who lost part of her right leg at the age of 9, has become a household name after her display of courage in protecting the Olympic torch from demonstrators in Paris. "If you have a chance to visit the earthquake-hit areas, please extend your arms and hug every child you meet," she said at a recent press conference.

(China Daily 05/29/2008 page4)