BEIJING, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- With the Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, just days away, almost every corner of China is adorned with the lucky colors of red and gold. Yet, inside an intensive care unit (ICU) in a hospital in the Chinese capital, hurried footsteps still break the silence, and the air carries a sense of urgency beneath its disciplined calm.
For 22-year-old Xiaoqian and her parents, a rural family from a remote village in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, their recent trip to Beijing for medical care felt like a true miracle. It reflected the compassion, efficiency, and dedication of the healthcare community and society as a whole.
About two weeks ago, when Xiaoqian was transferred to the Peking University People's Hospital, she was on the verge of death, battling a severe infection following surgery.
When she first arrived, the young girl was curled up in a ball in pain due to abdominal wall infection, recalled Guo Peng, director of the hospital's emergency department. "She was in severe septic shock, and her vital signs were extremely unstable."
From fluid resuscitation and anti-shock therapy to MRI scans, immediate measures were taken as soon as she got out of the ambulance. And Xiaoqian was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, a rare but serious disease that can develop very quickly into a life-threatening emergency.
"Surgery must be done immediately; that was the only hope," Zhu Fengxue, director of the hospital's department of critical care medicine, told Xinhua. "With any delay, the infection would worsen."
Some doctors set down their lunch boxes mid-bite; others cut short their brief breaks after marathon shifts. Physicians from different departments worked together, completing the surgery successfully in the shortest possible time.
To everyone's delight, Xiaoqian was finally out of danger. But new problems emerged. Patients with necrotizing fasciitis require intensive care, with recovery measured in weeks, not days. Although medical insurance partly covered her medical fees, the possibility of relapse and the potentially astronomical costs ahead still deeply worried her rural family.
"Watching our daughter suffering, we just don't know how to go on," said Xiaoqian's mother with tears, admitting that she and her husband had even thought about stopping the treatment due to financial burden.
Yet that was definitely the last thing the doctors would have wished to see. For these Chinese medical professionals, saving a life does not end when a patient leaves the operating table or the ICU.
At noon on Feb. 11, with support from the hospital, one of Xiaoqian's doctors helped the family launch an online fundraising campaign. The medical staff took the lead in donating and sharing the appeal across social media platforms.
What began as a desperate attempt for help quickly wove itself into a tapestry of human kindness. Moved by the girl's ordeal, strangers online donated 100 yuan (about 14 U.S. dollars), 200 yuan, then 1,000 yuan, 3,000 yuan, 5,000 yuan, and more. Support poured in from across the country, converging on a single fragile life.
By 4:30 p.m., the total of 260,000 yuan needed for Xiaoqian's treatment had been fully raised, lifting a heavy burden from the family's shoulders.
"If it weren't for the help from the hospital and the society, our daughter might not be alive anymore," said the mother. "It was their efforts and support that gave us hope."
"Xiaoqian's liver and kidney function indicators, among others, are steadily improving. Her follow-up treatment will proceed through cross-department coordination and last for about a month. We are confident of a positive outcome," a doctor said.
As the most important traditional festival for the Chinese people, the Spring Festival is a time for family reunion and happiness. This year, it falls on Feb. 17, ushering in a nine-day holiday.
During the upcoming holiday, however, countless medical workers across hospitals in China will remain at their posts, working around the clock to safeguard patients like Xiaoqian and striving toward the reunions that these patients' families eagerly hope for. ■
