Wenchuan earthquake amputee admitted to medical school

Zhu Yu, a survivor of Sichuan's devastating Wenchuan Earthquake in 2008, saw her gaokao dreams come true as she was admitted to the Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Zhu lost her left leg in the disaster when she was only 5. She was in an art class at a preschool in Hanyuan county when the magnitude 8 quake hit Wenchuan. Hanyuan was not far from the epicenter. Houses collapsed and Zhu was badly injured, falling into a coma.

When her family found her, she had been rushed to a hospital. Her left leg was broken, resulting in excessive blood loss and severe hemorrhagic shock. By that time, there were still aftershocks following the main quake. Doctors risked their own lives to perform a craniotomy and amputate her left leg so her life could be saved.

Zhu's coma lasted for eight days. The moment she awoke and saw her lower limbs wrapped in gauze, she asked her grandfather: "Grandpa, when will my feet grow out?"

Lying on the hospital bed, Zhu didn't know what amputation meant, she just smiled.

Afterward, Zhu underwent training to rehabilitate her lower limbs and began walking on prosthesis.

In 2010, she was sent to a primary school in Dujiangyan, Sichuan province, where accessibility facilities were in place for disabled students. In 2015, Zhu went back to Hanyuan county for middle school.

Compared to her studies, the process of recovery was tougher for Zhu. She recalled one time she had frostbite at the amputation site. She soaked it in hot water thinking it could help relieve the cold injury, which only made it worse. She had to undergo treatment which took more than two weeks to recover from. In 2021, Zhu sat for the gaokao and her score was higher than the admission line of some universities, but she chose to reenter preparations for the next year's exam.

After a year's hard work, Zhu got her wish and was admitted to her favorite university with a score of 571. "I've been waiting so long. It is worth re-preparing for the exam," Zhu wrote on her WeChat Moments.

When asked why she was so persistent in her study of medicine, she said: "My grandpa is a rural doctor. To become a doctor was always my dream, especially after what I've experienced. I want to help more people."