Student who saved classmate in serious condition

A high school senior who risked his life to save a classmate from being hit by a lorry on Nov 3 remained in serious condition.

Gong Yuben, 18, a student at Zaozhuang No 2 Middle School in southern Shandong province, lost most of his right leg and doctors may be forced to amputate his left foot.

Gong was riding on the back of an electric bicycle driven by classmate Chu Haowhen when a lorry suddenly rushed toward them.

Gong pushed Chu out of the way and was struck by the lorry.

"I was driving on the right side of the street. Without any warning, the lorry suddenly rushed toward us. I tried my best to swing to the right, but the lorry was moving too fast. I only felt Daben (Gong Yuben) push me on my back and then I "flew" away. He could have jumped off first," Chu said.

Gong lost most of his right leg and underwent two major operations at People's Hospital of Taierzhuang District. He was transferred to Central Hospital of Zaozhuang Mining Bureau on Nov 17.

"The boy's physical state is very bad with severe anemia. There is infection and necrosis on the surface of the wound. There are still a lot of potential problems. The injury makes the situation very difficult to judge. Whether his left foot can be secured or not is still uncertain," said Xia Qing, 34, director of the hospital's orthopedics department.

As the class committee member in charge of sports activities, Gong enjoys playing basketball.

"My son always dreamed of entering a military academy and joining the army. But now all are impossible," said his father Gong Guangyong, a 44-year-old security guard with Taierzhuang District Security Company.

"The driver of the lorry cannot afford our medical fee. I was diagnosed with a mild concussion, but I stayed in the hospital for only 4 days. Daben's family is poor as well. I had to save the money for Daben," Chu said.

Before Gong Yuben was transferred to another hospital, the medical fee had exceeded 100,000 yuan.

Gong Guangyong only makes around 1,000 yuan a month. Gong Yuben's mother doesn't have a job. His family is classified as low-income and receives an allowance from the local government.

Many students have already donated money to help Gong.

"Including the money I got from friends and relatives and the public donations, I have received more than 70,000 yuan. The lorry doesn't have insurance, so we won't get anything from the insurance company. The driver is poor and only gave us 10,000 yuan," Gong Guangyong said.

"If the experts decide to cut his left foot off tomorrow, I will transfer him to another hospital. He has lost his right leg. I cannot bear to see him lose his left foot," Gong said.

Gong Yuben's actions to save his classmate have drawn praise from netizens, who called him as "the most beautiful high school student".

On Sina Weibo, the most popular micro-blogging platform in China, posts about Gong Yuben's deeds have been reposted more than 30,000 times and received more than 5,000 comments.

"I feel proud of you. I pray for you. You are the pride of the students of our new generation," a micro blogger named lemon-tree-sweet-Cc wrote.