Profiles

Milkman suffers injury to deliver

By Wang Hongyi (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-10 07:42

Jin Yousheng, a milkman who was injured while working, rests in a ward of the Huashan Hospital in Shanghai on July 30. [GAO ERQIANG / CHINA DAILY]

SHANGHAI - For Jin Yousheng, a milkman in Shanghai, dreaming of a good night's sleep in an air-conditioned room is pointless.

Since 2002, the 42-year-old native of Yancheng, Jiangsu province, has been delivering 330 bottles of milk to 200 households between 2 am and 8 am every day, traveling more than 35 km across the city and climbing some 3,000 stairs.

Just recently, however, dream came true, he managed to spend an entire week lying in bed in an air-conditioned room. It's a different matter the room was a hospital ward.

In Jin's field of work, a complaint-free month fetches him a bonus of 150 yuan, while a single complaint from an angry customer costs him a fine of 10 yuan.

Jin, who has to support his mentally challenged wife and two school-going daughters, can't afford to lose the bonus. "Each penny counts," Jin said.

Besides the 2,000 yuan he makes each month delivering milk, he also tries to make some extra cash each day by doing other odd jobs.

On July 29, Jin had, as usual, set out early to deliver milk to his clients. With the month about to end, he had his eyes set on the 150-yuan bonus.

But it was not to be.

At around 3 am, Jin stepped on a piece of broken glass and injured his right foot, which began bleeding profusely.

With another 100 households left to deliver milk to, Jin wrapped his wound with his shirt, which was drenched in blood in no time.

"I didn't think too much of the injury at that time. I just wanted to finish all the deliveries on time," Jin said. "I knew I should go to a hospital, but was afraid the customers might complain to my boss and I'd lose my bonus."

As Jin pedaled on, he left a trail of blood on the streets.

He delivered milk to another 30 households until the pain became intolerable. He decided to get himself to a hospital, but he fainted on the way due to excessive loss of blood.

When he regained consciousness, he was in a hospital, minutes away from a surgery on his ruptured Achilles tendon.

When the doctor told him he would not be able to deliver milk for some months, he immediately asked for a pen and paper and began making a list of his clients and their addresses. Jin hoped his relatives might fill in for him so that he can retain his job and feed his family.

"My eldest daughter is about to graduate from high school," he said. "Her college tuition is quite high. I can't do without the job."

Soon after a local newspaper published Jin's story, several people came forward with donations. Some strangers even traveled kilometers across Shanghai to visit him in the hospital.

The company he works for also promised to pay for his medical treatment and retain him.

For the first time in eight years, Jin has finally rested for a whole week. He said he had never slept an entire night since he became a milkman.

"(But) it would have been better if it was not in a hospital," said Jin, who will be discharged in one week.