One-legged doctor stands tall to protect villagers

YINCHUAN -- Lu Bingquan, a one-legged village doctor, spent the Labor Day holiday in his clinic seeing patients and prescribing medicine.

"I have been used to working in the clinic every day. I feel like I need my patients more than they need me," the 43-year-old said earnestly.

Lu has been practicing medicine for six years in Panhe village under the city of Wuzhong, Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region. The village is about 360 kilometers from Lu's hometown.

Lu graduated from a vocational school studying community medicine when he was 19, the same year he lost his left leg in a car accident.

"I was expecting a bright future as a doctor. The accident was like a thunderstrike for me," Lu recalled, peacefully.

For over 10 years, he stayed at home to accompany his aged parents. He spent most of his time reading medical books. To dispel his sorrow, he learned how to cook, wash clothes and even drive a motor tricycle.

"Driving a motor tricycle was never easy for me, but I guess that was the wisest thing I have ever done," Lu said. Learning medicine helped him realize the value of life, while a motor tricycle expanded the circle of life for him.

Lu wanted a change, which came in 2014 when he heard that a remote village needed a doctor. Without hesitation, Lu packed up some bedclothes, pots and pans, and his medical books, and headed for Panhe on his motor tricycle.

Apart from the low salary, living conditions in Panhe were also very poor. Before him, the village had seen off several doctors who couldn't hold on any longer.

"Nothing could be more miserable than losing a leg," Lu interned for half a year before becoming a regular village doctor.

Being disabled, Lu cherished health more than anyone.

One of a village doctor's jobs is to monitor the health conditions of at least 90 percent of pregnant women, kids and special groups in the village. Lu made it to 100 percent. He has set up an electronic health record for each villager.

"Anyone who has lived in the village for over half a year is under my health management," Lu said.

Lu seldom went home due to the long distance and his disability. He felt sorry for the passing of his parents in recent years, and thus invests more money and energy in his fellow villagers, especially the elderly.

He has spent over 10,000 yuan (about $1,413) of his own savings on a portable hematomanometer for the elderly, and face masks for free distribution among villagers during the COVID-19 epidemic.

"Villagers now treat me like family, and that's enough," Lu said.

Some villagers offered Lu eggs, vegetables or fruits in return, but they never succeeded. Wang Sufeng, 70, always failed to persuade him to accept the eggs she boiled every time Lu dropped by to measure her blood pressure.

"He is a good man," said Wang. "He gives a lot but never takes."

In the meantime, as China has put much effort into establishing standard clinics and allocating qualified doctors in vast rural areas across the country, the clinic has received a renovation using public funds and its medicines enriched to 130 varieties.

Lu's salary was also bumped to about 60,000 yuan a year. He bought a new electric tricycle so that he could move around more conveniently.

"A village doctor should have enough patience and perseverance, and I'm working on it," said Lu.