Chongqing legless doctor serves villagers for 16 years

Li Juhong sits in a wheelchair to make a house call. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Walking with two hands on a pair of small wooden stools, Li Juhong moves slowly on the winding and narrow country road with her medical box hanging from her neck.

As a village doctor, she serves about 1,600 residents, most of whom are seniors and children as almost all young people have left to work in cities. One major job of Li is to conduct regular health checkups of those who cannot visit her clinic.

Li lost both her legs in a car accident at the age of four.

"After suffering so much pain, I want to help people relieve their pain," she said.

After graduating from Chinese traditional medicine department of a local special education school in 2001, Li returned to her home Wadian village, Qingping town in Hechuan district, southwest China's Chongqing.

There are only two doctors at the village clinic. But Li's colleague is in his 70s and almost retired.

"I am working around the clock and I have no weekends or holidays," she said.

She lives in the clinic so that the villagers can find her anytime.

Fortunately her husband is supportive. Sometimes her husband will go with her during the visits and push the wheelchair. But most of time, Li goes out on her own.

"In recent years, the road condition in the village has improved a lot and many houses are accessible by wheelchair," Li said.

If the road becomes impassable, she has to walk on her wooden stools.

"They (stools) are like my shoes and wear out very fast," she said. "I need to have a new pair every year."

In China, there are over one million village doctors to take care of over 80 million rural residents due to the underdeveloped medical system in the countryside. They are called "barefoot doctors" as they are not qualified doctors but farmers with some medical training.

Li said the income of a village doctor is very low so few people are willing to work in the village clinic.

"In some busy months, I can make 2,000 yuan (US$300) a month," she said.

But for Li, her career is her passion.

"My dream is to acquire more knowledge and serve my villagers with better skills," she said.