The warmth of life

  Six years after graduation, Chu Changan returned to his alma mater again.

  This is the beginning of his medical career.

The 31-year-old Chu Changan was born in Jingzhou Miao and Dong Autonomous County of Huaihua City, Hunan Province. He came from a poor family. He has gone through three college entrance examinations. He has worked as an apprentice in an auto repair factory, a salesman, a bar, and restaurant waiter. In 2012, he entered Hunan Medical College to study.

  Being a doctor is his ideal.

After graduation, he worked successively in township health centers and county people's hospitals. Toothache, dental caries, and strangely shaped wisdom teeth were all defeated by him.

  Chu Changan has been fighting poverty and disease all his life.

In January this year, an infection after an operation made "hemophagocytic syndrome with sepsis" an enemy that threatened his life.

This rare disease quickly drained his vitality.

On New Year’s Eve this year, he signed the "Voluntary Letter for Donation of Remains" to leave his last wish, "If my fate is unbearable and cannot save my life, I also hope to contribute my last remaining warmth to medicine", and donated his body to his alma mater for medical research. .

1

  April 27th was the day when Chu Changan returned to his alma mater. It was also the last time Jiang Jun, his counselor and vice minister of the Department of Education and Engineering of Hunan Medical College, saw him.

In Jiang Jun's impression, a young man who is 1.7 meters tall, always full of vitality, and has won many long-distance running champions, is lying quietly on a bed in the laboratory at this time.

  At 13:00, the donation ceremony began. The representatives of the school's teachers and students and the staff of the Red Cross Society of Huaihua City, holding yellow flowers, bowed to the remains of Chu Changan, and presented flowers one by one.

The torment of illness caused his weight to fall from 60 kg to less than 40 kg.

"It's not full of vitality like before," Jiang Jun said, but at that moment, he seemed to feel a touch of sacredness in Chu Changan.

  When he entered Hunan Medical College 9 years ago, Chu Changan came into contact with a "general teacher" in his freshman anatomy class.

This is the honorific name given by medical students to volunteers for body donation.

Unlike the teacher who walked onto the podium, the "General Teacher" has no action or speech, but uses his body to promote the progress of medicine.

  Now, the student who stood bowing under the stage has become a "general teacher" lying in the laboratory.

  Chu Changan had to face the challenges of poverty and disease from an early age.

His father, Chu Jigen, was the first batch of high school students after returning to the college entrance examination. He had excellent grades and was admitted to a key class. However, he suffered from intermittent mental illness before the college entrance examination and had no choice but to drop out of school.

Chu Jigen suffered from congenital eye disease with only weak light perception in one eye, and the other eye was injured in a neighborhood conflict, and he has been blind since then.

  The fields at home are mainly managed by his mother Yang Xiuyun.

Not only did she suffer from Meniere's syndrome, but her years of work caused her to suffer from severe rheumatism.

The illness has brought tens of thousands of yuan in debt to the family, and the family's life is extremely difficult.

Sometimes Chu Jigen forgets to take the medicine, he will make a lot of noise, sing and run around, and the whole family will search everywhere.

In the view of Chu Changxin, a 3-year-old brother, the experience of his relatives being sick is the reason why his younger brother insists on becoming a doctor.

  In 2010, Chu Changan was admitted to Xiangtan Vocational and Technical College (renamed Xiangtan Medical and Health Vocational and Technical College in 2015-reporter's note) major in dental medicine technology.

After two years in school, he learned that according to my country's Law on Practicing Physicians, academic qualifications in medical technology majors are not the basis for applying for the qualifications of practising physicians.

This means that even if he completes his specialty, he cannot become a doctor.

  He chose to re-take the college entrance examination after graduation.

This year, his grades surpassed three lines. Taking into account the high tuition fees, he chose to study in Stomatology at the Huaihua Medical College nearest to his home (Huaihua Medical College was upgraded to Hunan Medical College in 2014-reporter's note)

  When he first entered the school, Chu Changan left a deep impression on Tan Feng, director of the training center of the School of Dental Medicine of the school.

"This boy is a bit older and more mature than other classmates. He has an outgoing personality. He is more active when he asks him to do anything."

  A few days ago, a teacher from the School of Computer Science told Tan Feng that when he saw Chu Chang’an’s news, he remembered how he ran back then, “This teacher has not taught him, but was a referee at a sports meeting. People are very sunny."

  Few people in the school knew the imprint of poverty on Chu Changan.

When he was a child, he could not eat meat all year round, and he never bought fruit, so he could only relieve his hunger from the fruit trees growing in the mountains behind the house.

The old house in the family was built with bricks and adobe, and it leaked rain everywhere in the rainy season.

  In order to reduce the burden on the family, the eldest sister dropped out of school when she was 13 years old and worked as a waiter in a restaurant, earning only 150 yuan a month.

She is not willing to spend, and most of them save money to subsidize the family.

Chu Changan and his brother also carried the burden of the family.

During spring plowing, they borrowed a walking tractor. The young and frail two could not grasp the direction of the machine, so they could only hold one handle.

The tractor plowed deeper and deeper with the iron plow, and the two of them had to pull the machine out again with great effort.

The kiln in the village had to build a chimney, and the brothers went to the construction site to hand over bricks from bottom to top. The price was 75 yuan per person per day. "That would feel very rich."

  In 2006, Chu Changxin, who graduated from high school, also chose to work, and the conditions at home slowly improved.

Three years later, the Chu family built a small three-story building, spent all of the family's savings, and borrowed some foreign debts. That year, Chu Changan took the college entrance examination for the first time.

2

  The road to college is not easy.

Chu Changan passed a college entrance examination for the first time, but he did not go.

"In fact, I don't want to increase the burden on my family." Chu Changxin said.

Chu Changan first went to learn auto repair, worked in the repair shop during the day, and worked as a waiter in the bar at night.

After half a year, he went to work in Shanghai again, worked as a salesman, and worked as a hotel waiter. When he was at his worst, he did not find a new job and had no money. He slept on a park bench for two nights.

He only told his family many years later.

After collecting the tuition, Chu Changan came back to take the second college entrance examination.

  The difficulties in the family were carefully hidden by Chu Changan.

Li Qiqi, a classmate of Hunan Medical College, remembers that when he was in school, he encountered Chu Changan handing out flyers at the entrance of the cinema. Chu Changan casually explained, "80 yuan a day, and there is nothing wrong on weekends anyway." Li Qiqi thought he wanted to exercise himself.

On weekdays, he always arranges things in an orderly manner and always rushes to pay the bills.

  "Even if others know what your family's situation is like, they won't help you. He has a lot of self-esteem. We have no money or rights, so we can only treat people with our hearts, so he has made a lot of good friends." Chu Changxin commented.

  During the years at Hunan Medical College, Chu Changan was a "victorious general" in the long-distance running program of the school sports meeting. The students specially cheered him with the banner of "Chu Changan Breaking Record".

  Long-distance running is one of his hobbies.

Chu Changxin said that his younger brother likes long-distance running because he has suffered and has perseverance. He also hopes to win the championship in the competition and be recognized by others.

  Chu Changan began to exert his strength in the long-distance race of life.

In 2015, the rural baby Chu Changan graduated from Hunan Medical College.

Doctor Chu Changan decided to go back to the mountains.

He refused high-paying invitations from some clinics and chose to work in the Dabaozi Town Health Center in Jingzhou County and became a dentist.

  "At that time, he could have gone to a better hospital, but we were not in his hometown. He was worried about his parents and went back to his hometown." Chu Changxin said that another reason his brother chose the hospital was that he found that there was no one here after exchanges. To open a dentistry department, he wants to start his own business here.

In this way, the town of Dapuzi had a dentistry by Chu Changan alone.

  Chu Changan is not only responsible for inspecting the equipment and consumables to be purchased, but also for setting up the department. He is both a doctor and a nurse clinically. The treatment of patients and the disinfection of equipment are all in charge.

Sometimes when I encounter difficult teeth, there is no assistant, and my whole body is sweaty from exhaustion.

People in the mountains have weak knowledge of oral health care, and they often drag minor illnesses into serious illnesses.

Chu Changan made a file for each patient and paid regular return visits. When he met some patients with poor financial conditions, he would try to save them money and choose some cheap but effective drugs.

His wife Fan Chunxiu said, "Chu Changan, like them, has come from hard times and understands them better."

  Chu Changan's lover Fan Chunxiu was also a doctor. At that time, he worked in another township hospital. The two met at the free clinic of the Jingzhou Volunteer Association and gave birth to a son and a daughter after marriage.

The eldest daughter is two and a half years old this year. After birth, she suffered from weight and mental retardation. She has not been able to walk, and her language ability has not been trained, so she needs regular rehabilitation training.

His wife, Fan Chunxiu, is still participating in standardized training for residents, and only has a monthly living allowance of 1,500 yuan.

The burden of life was once again on Chu Changan.

3

  In Chu Changan's vision, after these difficult days, after a few years for the children to go to kindergarten, the couple will also usher in a golden period of professional development, and everything will get better and better.

In 2019, Chu Changan was admitted to the First People's Hospital of Tongdao County, Huaihua City, and soon became the main force of the department.

He also went to study abroad at his own expense during the holidays, learning orthodontics and implantation techniques.

In his circle of friends, he always shared the odd-shaped wisdom teeth pulled out by himself and the difficult corrections.

  No one thought that disease would become an obstacle that Chu Changan, the "sportsman" in the eyes of everyone, could not overcome at this time.

  Starting in October 2020, Chu Changan had repeated tonsil inflammation and fever. In order not to affect his work, he took advantage of the New Year's Day holiday to undergo tonsillectomy. He did not expect infection and bleeding after the operation, and repeated high fevers inexplicably.

On January 31, 2021, Chu Changan was diagnosed with Epstein-Barr virus-induced hemophagocytic syndrome with sepsis in Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, which is a rare disease.

  Poverty is always accompanied by illness.

After receiving the news of the diagnosis, Chu Changan estimated the cost of treatment and sent his brother WeChat, "Help me draw up a divorce agreement, and don't want to hurt her."

  Chu Changxin comforted his brother, "As long as the money problem is solved, there will be cure." His family members posted his illness on the Internet critical illness help platform. Chu Changan received donations from more than 10,000 people, and several college students even donated five figures. Of donations.

Soon, they raised more than 260,000 yuan in donations and were able to treat them.

  In March of this year, Chu Changan's condition improved for a while, and he went to Beijing Friendship Hospital for treatment with his brother.

Experts suggested that he be hospitalized immediately for bone marrow transplantation, but the cost of bone marrow transplantation will be higher.

Coupled with the remote medical insurance, the settlement cycle is long, and Chu Changan is worried about the shortage of people and money.

As in the first college entrance examination, he made another excuse: "I am not used to the north, I am not used to eating here, and I am not used to living here."

  Chu Changxin persuaded him all night and finally convinced him to receive treatment, but the hospital had no more beds.

On that day, Chu Changan told his patients in the Moments of Friends: "Patients who have not finished treatment, please find a nurse in the department to arrange follow-up treatment for you. You don't have to wait for me. Maybe it will be more than half a year, maybe you will never be able to wait."

  Back in Changsha while waiting for the transplant, Chu Changan developed a high fever. The virus gradually destroyed his hearing and vision, and invaded the nervous system. His lips trembled and his hands were unstable. He often stabbed the spoon to the chin. on.

On April 25, Chu Changan became critically ill.

My brother contacted Jiang Jun to discuss the specific process of donating the body to the school.

  This is a long-established thing.

On February 11, on the morning of Lunar New Year's Eve, Chu Changxin received a document from his younger brother and asked him to print it out.

This is a "Voluntary Book for Donation of Remains". The content of more than 1,000 words was written by Chu Changan using his mobile phone in the ward. At that time, the continuous high fever and the erosion of the virus made him often feel dizzy and memory loss. When I closed and opened my eyes, there was a phantom in front of me.

  "Anatomy is the first course for all medical majors. As a specimen of human body structure,'General Teacher' is the foundation and cornerstone of our teaching, helping students to find the corresponding structure in the patient's body." Hunan Medical College Anatomy Teacher Jiang Shuai said that due to the influence of traditional concepts in my country, the number of “general teachers” is far short of the requirements of the curriculum system, so that some specimens are overdue for service and require manual repairs, and there are also some errors in the organizational structure.

  After checking the relevant information, Chu Changxin was silent, "Do you know what this means? Your organs will be made into specimens."

  "How could my doctor not know? So many people helped me, and I didn't want to pay for it." A word from my younger brother convinced Chu Changxin to respect this decision.

He told a white lie to his parents, Chu Changan's body would "study in medical school, and in the future, his child might be able to see his father when he grows up to study medicine."

  "As a medical student, I don't know how to face his decision, and I am very reluctant, but if it is me, I might make the same choice as him." Fan Chunxiu also cried and signed the volunteer letter.

  That day, Chu Changan sent a thank you WeChat message to the people who had funded him, detailing his illness and the decision to donate his body, “If you can’t come back to see you, don’t feel sad, everyone meets is a landscape, and I do. For the worst, if the treatment fails, volunteer the remains to contribute a little bit of warmth to the country’s medical progress."

  At the end of the letter, he wrote, “Today’s New Year’s Eve, I hope everyone will forget me and spend a happy and happy reunion year with my family at ease.”

  At 16:50 on April 26, Chu Changan died in Changsha due to multiple organ failure.

The next day, "General Teacher" Chu Changan returned to his alma mater to help more students continue to fight the disease.

That day was the 3rd anniversary of his marriage with Fan Chunxiu.

  China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily reporter Liu Yan Source: China Youth Daily