A Helping Hand: One-armed doctor provides serviced for 1,600 villagers

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50-year-old Li Yan is a village doctor with only one arm. He is especially adept at acupuncture. Despite his own disability, Li is always ready to aid those under his care.

LI YAN, VILLAGE DOCTOR JIANGXI PROVINCE "Even those who lose both arms can still practice calligraphy with their feet, so certainly I can still treat patients even with just one hand."

When he was only 20 years old, Li Yan was bitten by a snake, and as a result, lost his left arm. But that didn't stop him from becoming a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine.

Li has developed an acupuncture method using three fingers of one hand. To guarantee accuracy and proper pressure, he practices on himself and does push-ups with these three fingers.

LI YAN, VILLAGE DOCTOR JIANGXI PROVINCE "In the beginning, I practiced this acupuncture method on myself, to feel the accurate pressure."

His effort has paid off.

For towns that are too small for a hospital, doctors like Li Yan are considered to be something like saviors, as they offer emergency response and medical support.

Over the past 27 years, he has traveled door to door to answer the calls of more than a thousand of his patients in the mountainous villages.

XU YUMEI JIANGXI PROVINCE "Dr. Li is a good man. Every time I call him when my father-in-law is ill, he will come on time, regardless of rainy or windy weather."

Government initiatives are often slow to be implemented in rural areas that lack supporting infrastructure. The internet, however, has changed this.

Besides giving medical treatment, Li Yan also works to build the health records of his patients, for reference. He said it took him three months of traveling to compile the data.

LI YAN, VILLAGE DOCTOR JIANGXI PROVINCE "To create these health files, I had to go to each household, give them health examinations, fill out health forms, and put the data into the computer. Now almost all the residents in our village have health records."

There are over a million rural doctors in China. People like Li Yan are a lifeline for millions of rural residents in the country.

LI YAN, VILLAGE DOCTOR JIANGXI PROVINCE "Being a doctor was my childhood dream. And it is an honor to see this career become a reality. No matter how hard it is, as long as the residents in the village are healthy, it is my greatest comfort. As long as I have the ability, I will continue to keep on."

Omar Khan, CGTN