Blog to save lives

She had never known the computer. She also did not come to the notion of something called blog. But the very thing that she didn't know about it saved Chen's life. From being unable to pay for any medical treatment, now the poor girl has been treated in one of Beijing's best hospitals.

Girl Chen Dongxiang

Last June, Chen Dongxiang, 12, living in a remote village in Hunan Province, China was found to have a blood disease.

Treatment exceeds the capacity of her family. They abandoned it, watching the leg of the 12-year-old girl gradually decay. All hope seems to be disappearing. But the story doesn't end there. All thanks to the timely arrival of a blogger, Li Guozhong.

Li is an amateur photojournalist of Hunan Province. Once traveling to the village where Chen lived, he learned of Chen's case. And it was he who first put Baby Chen's story on his blog on May 24.

The girl's mother is mentally ill. Chen's father was blind in his right eye. Earning 800 yuan (about US $ 100) annually is not enough for 11 members, let alone pay for the cost of treating Chen.

Chen's left shin bone was rotten and infected. Rots are also spreading rapidly on the rest of her body. She lost her left leg and could even lose her life. Li really wanted to save the poor girl. But a tree does not grow up. He thought of a way to put her photo on her blog.

His blog wrote: "Please reach out for this girl. Her left leg has been folded. The bones have protruded from the knees and the ankles. The gold is constantly flowing. And the flies are not spared. for her . I could hardly hold back tears ".

Li's article, accompanied by a few pictures of poor Chen, quickly spread in the online community. A journalist, Daqi website administrator, has put the article about her on her website. Soon after, Chen received a treatment grant at the People's Hospital - Hunan No. 1 Hospital, China.

The local government where Chen lived also visited and gave her medicine and a social allowance. At the same time, they arranged for her to be treated at Hunan's hospital.

However, because her illness has not improved, Chen's parents still wish to take her to a larger hospital, in big cities.

As of 3 weeks ago, Li's blog had 58,000 visitors, and collected 34,964.5 yuan from benefactors. Beijing Hospital also voluntarily accepted her for treatment without any treatment fees.

The funniest, aside from the girl and her family, is probably Li. He confided: " I did not expect my blog to be able to cause such strong emotions ."

It is estimated that by the end of 2005, China had about 100 million Internet users. The number of blogs in China has also continued to increase and so far, that number has reached 1.3 million.