Medical workers transfer Sun Xiaoming to receive emergency treatment at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing on March 26. [Photo by Zhu Xingxin/China Daily]

At China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Sun underwent two major operations, including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and heart valve replacement. He spent more than 80 days at the hospital and lost about 60 kilograms - down from 230.

"Since we had to perform his surgery while preventing him from severe infection and high fever, the time saved by the helicopter-based medical evacuation mattered a lot," said Liu Peng, the hospital's vice-president.

With the upcoming 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, air rescue has emerged as part of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development plan. Though the service in China is in early stages of development, it has had rapid development.

On June 15, Sun recovered and was discharged from the hospital. He was the first patient in Hengshui to use the helicopter ambulance service.

"Thanks to everyone, including my wife and doctors. It's you who gave me a second chance," he said.

Qiu Yuqing contributed to this story.