Black lung activist undergoes transplant op

A leading activist in the fight for black lung sufferers to be properly recognized and compensated has undergone lung transplant surgery, he told the Global Times Thursday.

Zhang Haichao, 31, who also suffers from occupational black lung disease, or pneumoconiosis, underwent the surgery on June 28 at Wuxi People's Hospital in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province.

The surgery went well, said Zhang, who also confirmed media reports that he had received compensation of 1.2 million yuan ($195,593), double the amount he had previously revealed.

While he didn't consider surgery before due to the 300,000 yuan cost, his quality of life had recently deteriorated.

"Now I can already get out of bed and walk around. The surgery gave me a chance of rebirth when I was nearly desperate. Many workers from the company I know well have died," he said. He will need to pay 100,000 yuan a year for anti-rejection drugs.

Zhang had undergone a well-publicized chest surgery in 2009 to prove he had black lung, caused by working for three years at Zhengzhou Zhendong Fireproof Material Company in Xinmi, Henan Province, after local doctors insisted he had tuberculosis, and was therefore not entitled to compensation.

Following the media exposure, the company was ordered to compensate Zhang by Xinmi government. He was awarded 615,000 yuan in September 2009, the amount Zhang said he had received. But he was also awarded 285,000 yuan and 300,000 yuan by Xinmi government and the Liuzhai township respectively. He signed a confidentiality agreement and gave up the right to further legal action.

"I revealed the secret as I wish the real amount could be set as a starting point for compensation so sufferers' families can have more security," said Zhang.

Some of his former colleagues, who signed a compensation deal prior to him, got around 300,000 yuan, but others, who signed later, only received 100,000 to 200,000 yuan.

"I was told I was alone, and it would be bad for me to resist as media had lost interest in my case," he said. "Although I cooperated with local officials and the company to conceal the real amount, I didn't do anything to harm others to benefit myself, and never received any more after that," he said.

Zhang Shiqian, a lawyer with Hebei Houzheng Law Firm who has cooperated with Zhang Haichao since 2009, said that he doesn't believe that revealing this high payout will really help other victims of black lung.

"There are lots of clauses in the State law on work-related injuries, and compensation payouts in some cases have been delegated to local governments, so the money varies a lot," said the lawyer.

Now Zhang Haichao is looking forward to getting home. "I hate to part with my parents and my daughter," he said. "It doesn't matter how long I survive, as I was already disabled before the surgery, no better than dead."