Jiayang Bacuo, a Tibetan woman living in Sangchake, Yushu, gave birth to a baby girl on April 13, 2010. A killer quake hit Yushu the next morning at 7:49. The earth began to shake violently. The mother hurriedly carried her baby and rushed toward the door. The mother and the daughter were thrown to the ground as the ground shook like waves. Jiayang Bacuo knew there was no chance for her to get out of the house. She arched her back, pushed her arms out to the ground, building a human shield for her baby girl. The roof crashed upon her. At the moment, she moved above her baby and lost her consciousness.
After a long time, she vaguely heard her father’s voice outside and people trying to get to her. She was finally rescued. Though the lower part of her body had lost consciousness, her baby girl was safe but in critical condition.
The mother and the baby girl were immediately flown to Lanzhou, the capital of the province about 500 kilometers away from Yushu. Upon the arrival at the affiliated hospital of the Gansu Traditional Chinese Medicine College, the mother was sent into the department of gynecology and the baby girl into the intensive care unit for newly-born babies. After five hours of treatment, a race against death, the baby girl’s condition became stable and her face began showing some color.
A young mother, whose baby was in the same ICU, donated a milk bottle and milk powder to the Tibetan girl who was lucky enough to survive the earthquake.
Pretty soon, many patients at the hospital learned that some survivors from Yushu had arrived at the hospital to receive medical care. Wei Yuying, a young woman who had given birth to a baby boy on April 13, learned about the baby girl. She asked if she could nurse the Tibetan girl, saying that her son was as young as the baby girl and that the baby girl needed milk. With the permission, Wei Yuying breast-fed the baby girl.
Zhang Zhenzhun, the doctor in charge of the baby girl, said on April 18 that the little girl was finally out of woods. □