The building looks like nothing special; just another low-rise structure along one of those wide avenues which Chinese city planners seem fond of.
When I enter the building, though, it is a hive of activity, with a couple of amputees fitted with their artificial legs walking resolutely along parallel bars in one room, and someone else taking a plaster cast of a man’s leg in another room.
Rehab centre
This is the Hong Kong Red Cross Centre for Rehab and Prosthetics and Orthotics in Deyang city, located close to the heart of Sichuan’s disaster zone. Yes, it is a mouthful to pronounce. But that is in a way the whole point. Everything is concentrated into a one-stop shop, offering all the services that those among the more than 300,000 injured, who live in the area, may need.
One reason why I have come here to see the place is that from the beginning of this year, the free medical services, which earthquake survivors were receiving from the government, have been discontinued. Here though, the treatment continues free of charge.
Down, but not out
When I visited one of the nearby hospitals a few months ago, they were gradually trying to get the amputees fitted with artificial limbs at this centre. I saw a 16-year-old boy, Tang Lei, with his mother, setting off from the hospital, hoping that he could get his artificial leg fitted, but returning disappointed because an infection made it impossible.
He is not here today, but I am delighted to hear from the staff that they have now managed to fit him with an artificial leg. Even in a wheelchair, he managed to pursue his passion for basketball, so I am sure his skills have been given a further boost.
Upstairs at the centre are the features that give the place further uniqueness. There are rooms where survivors can get physiotherapy. Not all patients have lost their limbs, although the centre has fitted about 300 artificial limbs since it started last July. There are counselling rooms and one of the really progressive aspects of the place is at the end of the corridor - the occupational therapy room.
Occupational therapy
Philip Chan, who heads the centre, is a social worker from Hong Kong with 30 years of experience. He tells me that occupational therapy “is a very new discipline in mainland China. Most people, including earthquake survivors, ordinary people or medical professionals, did not know anything about occupational therapy.” Yet, he says, “it is a necessary component in our treatment.”
Whether it is getting people back on the basketball court or the workplace, I can see his point about the importance not only to people’s livelihoods but to regaining their psychological resilience. |
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A physiotherapist helping an earthquake survivor to regain proper movement in her legs at the Hong Kong Red Cross Rehab and Prosthetic and Orthotic Centre in Deyang, Sichuan. The centre provides a complete range of services, from making and fitting artificial limbs to counselling and occupational therapy, seeing an average of 30 to 40 patients daily. It has fitted some 300 artificial limbs since the project began last July. (p-CHN0042)
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| Upstairs in the physiotherapy room, a Hong Kong Red Cross volunteer works with an elderly woman who suffered multiple injuries in the earthquake to help restore her mobility. For those who have been emotionally affected by the disaster, a counselling service is also available next door. (p-CHN0043) |
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