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| Earthquake Victim on Path to Recovery |
| Early rehabilitation allows Guo Tingting to stand again |
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Sichuan, China - The story of Guo Tingting is providing a spark of hope to victims of the massive destruction caused by a series of earthquakes in Sichuan province. The fourteen year old Tingting was an active junior high school sophomore until her home of Wenchuan in southwest Sichuan became the epicenter of the worst earthquake to hit China in over fifty years. Tingting's school collapsed in the earthquake, killing thirty-nine of her sixty-four classmates.
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Tingting was trapped in the rubble of her school for over twelve hours, pinned by a large block that crushed her left leg. When rescuers arrived, they were forced to amputate her leg in order to save her. Following her rescue Tingting was comforted by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who was in Wenchuan supervising rescue efforts.
Now at Sichuan Provincial General Hospital, Tingting is under the care of local physicians as well as rehabilitation medicine specialists from the China Rehabilitation Research Center (CRRC) in Beijing. The focus of her care has been to ensure proper healing of her surgical wound, and to restore her mobility as soon as possible.
Dr. Li Jianjun, Director of the CRRC, personally supervised Tingting's rehabilitation. The purpose of early rehabilitation, said Dr. Li, is to reduce medical complications, decrease disability and promote functional recovery. Dr. Li anticipates that Tingting will be fitted with an artificial leg in approximately six months, and that following a period of therapy will be able to resume most if not all of her regular activities.
Tingting is the first victim of the earthquake to actively participate in rehabilitation, but is certainly not the last. With nearly 70,000 people confirmed killed and over 350,000 injured, the number of survivors with brain, spinal cord, and orthopedic injuries will number in the thousands. The Cheng Health Foundation is working with the China Rehabilitation Research Center to support their earthquake recovery efforts and increase the availability of medical rehabilitation in the rural areas hardest hit by the earthquake.
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| Rehabilitation Medical Team Returns to Beijing |
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May 29th, Beijing - The twenty-member team of specialists in Rehabilitation Medicine from the China Rehabilitation Research Center has returned to Beijing from earthquake ravaged Sichuan province. Led by Dr. Li Jianjun, Director of the center, the team worked 18-hours days a week giving assistance to healthcare providers in Sichuan caring for victims of the earthquake. Despite difficult conditions including several aftershocks, the rehabilitation medical team played a key role in treating victims with brain, spinal cord and orthopedic injuries.
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(L) Dr. Li caring for earthquake victims, Sichuan China.
(R) CRRC medical team is greeted on their safe return to Beijing following one week in the earthquake zone.
Photos courtesy of the China Rehabilitation Research Center.
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May 22nd, Beijing - A team of medical experts from the China Rehabilitation Research Center (CRRC), under the supervision of China's Ministry of Health, has been sent to the site of the Sichuan earthquake to assist in recovery efforts. Led by Dr. Li Jianjun, Director of the CRRC, the 20 member team was joined by an additional 20 members from other cities in China.
The medical team is joining a country-wide effort to respond to the worst natural disaster in China in decades. With an estimated 70,000 dead, 29,000 missing and over 270,000 injured, the disaster has overwhelmed the healthcare system in Sichuan.The toll in terms of spinal cord, brain, orthopedic and other traumatic injuries is expected to be enormous.
The CRRC medical team, composed of experts in rehabilitation medicine, will assist in the care of patients who have suffered traumatic injuries in the earthquake and attempt to reduce the level of disability due to injuries suffered by victims.
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(L) Farewell ceremony at the China Rehabilitation Research Center for the medical team.
(R) CRRC medical team, led by Dr. Li, departs Beijing for the Sichuan earthquake zone.
Photos courtesy of the China Rehabilitation Research Center.
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全国各地各族群众深切悼念汶川大地震的遇难同胞
The Whole World Deeply Mourns the Victims of the Earthquake
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The recent earthquakes in Wenchuan, Sichuan province represent the worst natural disaster to strike China in decades. With up to 70,000 persons killed and over 240,000 injured, the scale of the disaster is nearly unimaginable. The medical challenge now facing China is enormous.
Medical rehabilitation will play a major role in the treatment of those injured in the earthquake. The Cheng Health Foundation is committed to working with our partners in China to assist in the recovery of those injured in this disaster.
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These images are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike license versions 3.0, 2.5, 2.0, and 1.0
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| About Our Foundation |
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The Cheng Health Foundation is working to enhance the health of people living in the US and other countries through education, international cooperation, and direct assistance to life science organizations. We rely on a dedicated volunteer team of healthcare professionals for many of our activities.
Our current efforts are focused on promoting the development of medical rehabilitation in China, and improving cooperation between rehabilitation medicine professionals in China and the US. We have partnered with the China Rehabilitation Research Center and Honolulu’s Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific to advance our efforts.
The Cheng Health Foundation is is a non-profit, tax-exempt charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Donations to the Foundation are tax-deductible.
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