Child quake survivors provide hope, inspiration
Updated: 2008-05-23 21:11
GIVE ME A COKE, ICED, PLEASE
That's what 17-year-old Xue Xiao told rescuers after being put on a stretcher. With severe injuries to his right arm and right leg, Xue was free after 80 hours under a collapsed four-story building in Mianzhu.
The Chinese public was moved by his optimism and passion for life and nicknamed him "the coke boy".
"He sends a beam of ease and liveliness into a grief-stricken nation," one Internet comment read.
Xue's right hand was later amputated.
I LOVE MY SISTER
Amid the outflow of panicked survivors from the epicenter, 11-year-old Zhang Jiwan in Beichuan trudged 12 hours with his 3-year-old sister on his back.
With their parents far from home as migrant workers and their grandparents too old to care for them, Zhang became the man of the family at a time of crisis.
The picture of the siblings became widely popular on the Internet.
"You are the backbone of China tomorrow," one comment said.
The boy and his family eventually reached a resettlement center in Mianyang City later that day with a reporter's help.
THE SALUTE BOY
More than 10 hours after the quake struck, 3-year-old Lang Zheng was rescued from the quake debris in Beichuan. After being put on a stretcher, an injured and fragile Lang slowly raised his right arm and saluted his rescuers in gratitude.
The moment was captured by a photographer and his gratitude moved the whole nation.
"At such a young age, he knows how to show gratitude. I should stop complaining about my own misfortune and learn to be grateful for what I've got," said one Internet user.
Lang, from the Qushan Township kindergarten of Beichuan County, sustained a fractured left arm and had parts of his left fingers amputated.
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