Chengdu Diary
 
 

Injured Children's Emotional Trauma

 
“He cries and keeps saying he wants to go home. ”
 
 
Chengdu Quake Kids

Wang Sifang, 12, lost 18 classmates in the May 12th earthquake.

Photo by Xiaoyu Xie.


Earlier this week, I visited a major Sichuan hospital.

There I met a few quake survivors, all of them young and in rough shape physically and especially emotionally.

One of them was Wang Sifang. He's a twelve-year-old boy from Shifang Jiandi Zhongxin Elementary School who survived the collapse of his school. Of fifty-three students in his sixth grade class, eighteen were crushed to death. Wang suffers from a broken leg and multiple fractures.

His father told me the boy lost his best friend, and now behaves strangely.

"He gets very agitated and upset when he is hurting from his wound." his dad told me. "Whenever there's an aftershock, he cries and shakes and keeps saying that he doesn't want to stay in the hospital and wants to go home."


Chengdu Quake Kids

Chen Keru, 10, has head injuries

Photo by Xiaoyu Xie.

Down the hall, I also met ten-year-old Chen Keru. Despite the horror she experienced she gave me a big smile. Her fourth grade class was on the third floor when her school collapsed. Two-thirds of her classmates died on May 12th. In addition to multiple fractures, she suffered head injuries during the rescue effort.

Her mother was also killed in the quake. But no one has wanted to break the news to her. Not yet.

Like Wang Sifang, she is prone to anger and panic attacks.


No Psychologist Has Come

Even though they have been through so much, Wang and Chen had only one visit from a psychologist. Their parents were given advice on how to cope with behavioral problems.

From what I've heard and seen, there must be thousands of children severely traumatized by the earthquake. While their physical recovery is underway, they don't yet have regular psychological help from professionals.

The lives of Wang Sifang and Chen Keru will never be the same. Until they get further help, they won't be able to return to the childhood they knew.

- - Xiaoyu Xie

 

Comments

My heart goes out for these kids who suffered so much from the quake. I am relieved to see that they were rescued and are safe in the hospital with the medical help they need. Though their childhood will never be the same, I hope long-termed support will be there for them, who are among the 373,606 people who got injured.

Sent by yang | 5:17 PM ET | 06-04-2008

Go See http://www.seaintarchive.org/group/seaint/mailarchive/2003b/msg00239.html
I am interested if any pagodas can be seen in recent photos of the devastated area?

Sent by David Merrick | 6:01 PM ET | 06-04-2008

Everything will be ok. The government is on the way gathering volunteers all over China for reconstructing the disaster area. Students who are graduated this year are applying the most-needed positions to serve the people there as volunteers.

Sent by Song Qiuying | 8:07 AM ET | 06-05-2008

Great story, Xiaoyu. I see a new career for you to replace your current title of "NPR Listener".

Sent by Bob Donna | 9:07 PM ET | 06-05-2008

Thanks for bringing up such important issue to public attention.

Sent by JY | 11:24 PM ET | 06-08-2008



   
   
   
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About 'Chengdu Diary'

NPR staff went to Chengdu, Sichuan, China in early May 2008 to prepare for a week of special reports for broadcast on All Things Considered. They found themselves in the middle of an unexpected story when the May 12th earthquake struck. The NPR team was there throughout the quake and aftermath. This blog gives you a day-by-day chronicle of the team's experiences before and after the quake.

For more about the project, please be sure to read our Frequently Asked Questions guide and our discussion rules.

 
 

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