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July 21, 2011

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Falling glass victim looks to amputation

A 19-year-old woman received compensation from a commercial building operator in Hangzhou yesterday after her leg was virtually severed by a shard of falling glass. She faces amputation.

The woman, Zhu Yiyi, is now in a Shanghai hospital for the surgery in hopes of preserving more of her leg.

Though in stable condition in the hospital, Zhu must sleep in a corridor because the hospital is out of available beds.

A 1-meter-long sheet of glass dropped from the 21st-floor and hit Zhu from behind on her knee on July 8 as she walked near the 23-story Qingchun Development Building on her way to work in Hangzhou, capital of neighboring Zhejiang Province.

Witnesses said her left leg was almost cut off beneath her knee. Doctors in a Hangzhou hospital said the blood vessels and nerves were damaged beyond repair and could not be reattached.

The building's property management company yesterday issued a written guarantee to Zhu to cover all her medical expenses. The company initially refused to take full responsibility and gave Zhu only 30,000 yuan (US$4,644) as a "humanitarian compensation," which was less than the 40,000 yuan medical expenses, said Zhu Meilong, her father, yesterday at the Shanghai No. 8 People's Hospital.

He said the company agreed to pay more after a Hangzhou law firm helped Zhu negotiate with the company on a volunteer basis.

Hangzhou police were still identifying who was liable, but Dai Heping, the head lawyer of the law firm, said both the property management company and the tenant of the floor, a paper-making company, should be responsible.

Zhu's parents, farmers from a Jiangxi Province village, took her to Shanghai yesterday to receive better treatment.

After doctors in Hangzhou told Zhu she likely would lose part of her leg, she asked "Can you leave part of my leg longer so it is not so ugly?" her father told reporters.

The father said they hoped the hospital could salvage her knee so that she could walk with an artificial limb after the surgery.

"I can do nothing but to face and accept the situation now," Zhu, who works in an architectural designing company, told Shanghai Daily.

"I blame no one, but hope similar tragedies will never happen to others," she said.

"I still feel optimistic about my future. For example, I can be a senior architectural designer. I can earn more money. I can also find my Mr Right to love for the entire life," she said.

A doctor said the hospital would try to move Zhu into a ward from the corridor soon, and promised to let the best doctor perform the amputation.


 

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