Medical team sets relay trip to Taiwan for fragile infant
10/12/2004 12:41
Shanghai Daily news
Though still very sick, 7-month-old Chen Yu'an is finally getting ready to
leave Shanghai for her parents' home in Taiwan. Her mother and father,
strapped for cash after their daughter was born here two months premature, say
they will not be taking a simple plane ride as previously planned. The trip
will now be accomplished by car, boat and airplane and take 15 hours -
accompanied all the way by a medical team. The group was due to leave at
midnight last night but was delayed by fog. Doctors from Fudan University's
Children's Hospital said yesterday that although the child is still very
fragile, she should be strong enough to survive the journey, supported by a
respiratory machine, a raft of other medical equipment and experienced
professionals. Chen's father is a Taiwan native, and her mother is from the
mainland's Hubei Province. They were living in Taiwan when the child was
conceived, and the mother traveled to Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, to stay with
relatives during her pregnancy. The girl was born on May 1, during the 28th
week of her mother's pregnancy, at Shanghai International Peace Maternity and
Child Health Hospital and underwent emergency treatment because of poor
development in her respiratory system. She was transferred to Fudan
University's Children's Hospital on July 24 suffering from breathing
difficulties, pneumonia and heart failure. Following six emergency procedures
and constant care, the infant's condition has now stabilized. Under the
travel plan, she will spend about 13 hours on a Shanghai First Aid Center
ambulance before reaching Xiamen in Fujian Province. The group will then be
transported by boat to Jinmen in Taiwan, where a special medical aircraft
sponsored by Taiwan authorities will fly the girl to Taichung for
hospitalization. The Children's Hospital has promised to provide
transportation assistance and has agreed to write off 50,000 yuan (US$6,024)
worth of medical bills. The family has already paid more than 100,000 yuan in
local medical expenses. "We are grateful to the Shanghai hospital and all the
doctors, who spared no efforts to save her," said the father, Chen
Chaofu. "She is so weak that she may stop breathing any time. But, we have to
take her back, since my daughter is not eligible for welfare benefits here, and
we are unable to afford the huge medical expenses," he said. A previous plan
to hire a special airplane from SOS, an international medical network, was
dropped because of the high cost. China Eastern Airlines offered to arrange
a free flight, but that was canceled due to problems installing the medical
equipment on a civil aircraft.
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