More than a week after the earthquake, it's a miracle when people are pulled out of the rubble alive. But early this morning(Tuesday) in Yingxiu town, a 31-year-old man was pulled from the debris after being buried for nearly 180 hours. And his isn't the only amazing story.
Early this morning (Tuesday) in Yingxiu town, a 31-year-old man was pulled from the debris after being buried for nearly 180 hours.
In Qingchuan County, Wang Chunbang was saved after being trapped for nearly 164 hours. And Yu Jinhua, a woman rescued in Yingxiu on Sunday, is also fighting for life. On Monday, doctors performed a second amputation, this time to stop the spread of fatal gangrene.
It's one o'clock, early Tuesday morning at Yingxiuwan Power Station. 31-year-old Ma Yuanjiang is finally pulled out of the rubbles. He has been trapped for 179 hours, without any food or water. Doctors watch him closely, and after five hours this man from the Qiang ethnic minority is able to talk and eat some porridge. He's transferred to a hospital where doctors can monitor his progress.
He's one of many people fighting for their lives. In Chengdu, 44-year-old survivor Yu Jinhua is undergoing a second amputation. She was sent urgently on Monday morning to the emergency outdoor operations tent here outside the PLA's general hospital in Chengdu. Doctors have confirmed that her thighs are infected by gangrene. She will lose her legs forever, or the infection will spread to her blood and take her life.
Yu Jinhua was found Wednesday in Qingchun County. But the rescue work stretched for 56 long hours, delayed by aftershocks and a huge beam trapping her lower legs. After 150 hours beneath the debris, Yu Jinhua was finally pulled out of the debris after doctors amputated her lower legs. Now she's lost her upper legs as well. The strong-minded woman has beaten death more than once, but is still fighting for her life.
(CCTV May 20, 2008)