Maintaining a positive attitude was the key to speedy recovery
from the Sichuan earthquake disaster, say two quake survivors.
Speaking on the eve of the first-anniversary of the devastating quake
which killed tens of thousands on May 12 last year, amputee Yang Huabing,
54, said he kept a brave face despite the daunting challenges that lay
before him.
"As a quake survivor, I feel obliged to live out my life so as to thank
those who risked their lives to pull me out from the rubble. I would feel
guilty if I committed suicide," he said.
Yang was the principal of the Mianzhu Northeast Secondary School when the
quake struck. He was inspecting a village school in Jinhua town along with
a colleague.
"The office suddenly collapsed ten minutes after we stepped into the room
and the school principal, my colleague and I were buried," he recalled.
"I was conscious at that time, but I thought I was on the brink of death,"
he said. "After hours of waiting, I was finally pulled out by the People's
Liberation Army around 8 am the next day."
Both his legs had been injured so seriously that they had to be amputated
on May 14 last year, he said.
He was later referred to the Rehabilitation, Prosthetic and Orthotic
Center run by the Deyang Disabled Persons' Federation and Hong Kong Red
Cross. There he was given prostheses.
"I did not want to go out after having my legs amputated. I felt uneasy.
But a psychologist at the center kept encouraging me and said my friends
would be compassionate and wouldn't look down upon me," he said on
reflection.
"So I regained my confidence after receiving counseling and started to
visit my friends as usual since the Lunar New Year."
Liu Yudong, 19, had his left leg amputated after the quake. He said he was
the only survivor in his class after the school collapsed.
When officiating at the opening ceremony of a photo exhibition featuring
pictures showing the reconstruction works and services run by the Hong
Kong Red Cross, he said: "Whatever hardship we are facing, we must believe
in ourselves and overcome the difficulties with determination."
Wilson Wong Mok-fai, deputy secretary general of the Hong Kong Red Cross,
said the group had so far raised HK$1.3 billion for the reconstruction
work in quake-stricken areas and HK$1.1 billion had been spent.
He said the group was funding the reconstruction of more than 18,000
houses, 17 hospitals, over 20 schools and more than 200 village clinics in
Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces.
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