The world of Tzu Chi (Vol.110)

2019 • 05 54 Heavily injured By the time Rui-teng arrived at the hospital where his two children were being treated, Hong-chang had already left the operating room, but he was not out of the woods yet. An-qi, originally thought to be in better shape, was being taken into the operating room for emergency surgery. All the hair on her head had been shaved off. The doctors told Rui-teng that her head was full of blood. The surgery began immediately. The doctors had barely cut An-qi’s head open when blood began spraying like a fountain all over the doctors and nurses.Afterwards,An-qi’s attending physician told her worried parents, “I have seen two patients like this before—one died and the other ended up in a vegetative state. Please be prepared for the worst.” Rui-teng was so shaken he passed out on the spot. When he came to, he found himself lying in a bed in the emergency room, his arm attached to an IVdrip. He pulled the needle fromhis armand, disregarding the drops of blood scattered over his arm, he walked unsteadily, aided by his wife, towards the intensive care unit. Not knowing how to soften the blow, Li-feng said straight to her husband, “They removed the entire left side of An-qi’s brain.” Moments later, as Rui-teng looked at his two children in the ICU, lying on beds next to each other and both in a deep coma, my words flashed through his mind: “If there is anything I can do to help, just call me, okay?” Like one freshly awakened from a dream, Rui-teng dialed my number on his cell phone. He was certain this time that the tremor in his hands was not caused by Parkinson’s disease, but by an overwhelming fear. I was in a meeting at the time, but when I saw Rui-teng’s name on the screen of my vibrating phone, I picked it up. “How are the kids doing?” I asked. “They are not good,” answered Rui-teng feebly, “but I don’t know how to describe their condition.” No sooner had he finished then I heard the phone being passed to another person. A different voice came on the line: “Hello. I am An-qi and Hong-chang’s attending physician.” “Hello, I am Lin Shinn-zong,” I said. After briefly introducing myself, I asked the doctor about the condition of the two children. While I listened to his reply, I pondered how to best help the kids through this crisis. I was very lucky because the physician trusted me enough to note down every treatment method I suggested. He even borrowed medicine from another hospital to use. He tried the best he could to comply with my suggested regimen. A week later, the kids were still in a coma. I urged Rui-teng not to lose heart. I taught him and his wife how to read the numbers on the An-qi did not admit defeat despite the loss of her left brain. She worked hard to regain her ability to talk, write and walk. umanistic Medicine