Rescue & Aid

Girl Hu hugged in Beijing

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-22 09:15

Girl Hu hugged in Beijing
Drolma Kartso receives treatment from a doctor in Beijing on Wednesday. The 17-year-old Tibetan girl, hugged by President Hu Jintao in Yushu county on Sunday, was sent to a hospital in Beijing for further medical treatment. [Provided to China Daily]

First injured to be transferred to national capital from quake zone

BEIJING -- Drolma Kartso was one of the lucky ones among the inhabitants of quake-hit Yushu in Northwest China's Qinghai province.

After receiving a hug from President Hu Jintao on Sunday, the 17-year-old girl, who suffered a severe arm fracture in the tremor, has become the first injured person transferred from the quake zone to Beijing for further medical treatment.

Drolma Kartso arrived in the capital with her parents at 8 pm on Tuesday and was sent to the General Hospital of Armed Police Forces, one of the country's best hospitals, the Beijing Evening News reported on Wednesday.

The family received a warm reception at the hospital, where they were greeted by a group of orthopedics experts and the hospital's director, Zheng Jingchen.

A spacious triple ward was provided for the family to enable the parents to care for their daughter, the report said.

In the following two days, doctors will give the girl a thorough check-up and work out a treatment plan, it said.

The hospital has prepared food for the family that Tibetans are accustomed to, such as mutton noodles.

To express the family's gratitude, Drolma Kartso's father, a tailor, made a special banner with the grateful word written on it in Tibetan, which he gave it to the hospital.

Drolma Kartso, who broke her right arm in the quake, was temporarily sent to a field hospital of the armed police force in Yushu on April 16.

During President Hu's visit to the region on April 18, he sat on the bed of Drolma Kartso and held her while she wept, with her right arm bandaged and supported by a sling.

"Rest assured, you will have a full recovery," Hu told her. "Don't worry. I know you are a good girl. Be strong. You will have a bright future. Grandpa will be thinking of you."

Due to the limited medical facilities in the quake zone, doctors later decided to send Drolma Kartso to Beijing to ensure she made a full recovery.

"The plane from Yushu to Beijing on Tuesday night was full, but five passengers offered their tickets to the girl and her family at the airport," another staff of the General Hospital of Armed Police Forces was quoted as saying.

At 9:40 am on Wednesday, Drolma Kartso and her family joined the nation in mourning for the victims of the Yushu quake.

The girl stood in silence with her parents and 100 doctors in the hospital's basketball court.

"I hope I can recover as soon as possible," Drolma Kartso said. "After that, I'd like to visit Tiananmen Square."