One-armed doctor offers a helping hand in rural China

World
Europe

02:33

Li Yan, 50, 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.

"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."

Acupuncture is a common practice of traditional Chinese medicine, during which qualified practitioners insert fine needles in various points on the patient’s body, stimulating sensory nerves and muscles to boost self-restoration. Most of the time, it requires both hands.

At the age of 20, 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 of using three fingers of one hand. To guarantee accuracy and proper pressure, he practices on himself and does push-ups with these three fingers.

His effort has paid off.

For towns that are too small for a hospital, doctors like Li Yan are seen as "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 1,000 patients in mountainous villages.

Xu Yumei is a family member of one of his elder patients. "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.

"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.

"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."