A Family of Three Suffer Severe Burns
Today, relatives and friends have managed to gather 200,000 yuan for medical expenses. "Although relatives and friends are still trying to raise money, we don't know how long we can keep this up," they said. They hope to seek help from society through our newspaper and wish that kind-hearted people can save this family.
Deng Yichuan's wife, Li Li, lying in the hospital bed, vaguely told the reporter: "At that time, I had already gotten up, but my son was still sleeping. I was preparing to make milk powder for my son when the fire suddenly spread from the second floor to upstairs, trapping us inside." The helpless mother and child shouted for help inside the room, but no one could hear them.
Taking advantage of the weaker flames, Deng Yichuan quickly climbed from the second floor to the third floor where his family lived. By then, his wife and child were already terrified. He grabbed a few coats, wrapped his son layer by layer, and carried him while pushing his wife towards the balcony of the building. "But the smoke was too thick, and we couldn't find the way to the balcony anymore." Breaking through the sea of fire on the second floor to escape the building became their only option.
Huge Medical Expenses Overwhelm Relatives
"The fire was too intense; as we rushed to the second-floor corridor, all our clothes caught fire," Deng Yichuan recounted. Despite excruciating pain, he tightly held his son with one hand and pulled his wife with the other, managing to escape the flames. Just minutes after the family escaped, their home was engulfed in the inferno.
On the first-floor bed lies a severely burned child wearing brightly colored clothes — a new outfit bought by his parents for the New Year. This child is named Deng Zirui, only ten months old, yet his facial burns are so severe that it’s hard to recognize his features. His hands are also bandaged, and relatives take care of him nearby.
Relatives explained that all three were severely burned, costing 65,000 yuan just for one day of hospitalization, with an estimated treatment cost of at least 500,000 yuan. "This is just the treatment cost; if rehabilitation and plastic surgery costs are added, it will exceed one million yuan."
Before the incident, the family relied on Deng Yichuan's monthly salary of about 2000 yuan to live. Although not wealthy, they led a relatively happy life in Hong'an County. "They had already arranged to rent out their house, and Deng Yichuan found a job driving for a boss in Wuhan, planning to start work on the 15th day of the first lunar month. But this big fire disrupted all their plans."
According to reports, at around 2:30 PM on the afternoon of February 13, a sudden fire broke out on the second floor of a residential building in Qili Town, Hong'an County, spreading to the third floor where residents lived. Deng Yichuan, who was working on the first floor, bravely rushed into the fire to rescue his trapped wife and child, but all three suffered severe burns. On the following day, lying in the beds of Wuhan Third Hospital, the heavily burned family members were still concerned about each other, yet the upcoming medical and plastic surgery costs exceeding one million yuan worried Deng's relatives.
The Deng family lived in a three-story building in Qili Town, Hong'an County. This building used to be a warehouse but was later converted into a residential building. The ground floor was still a shop, while the second and third floors were living spaces, with the Deng family residing on the third floor. On that day, which was the ninth day of the first lunar month, Deng Yichuan was working on the first floor while his wife and child were sleeping on the third floor.
At that moment, Deng Yichuan was downstairs working. He said the fire started on the second floor and quickly spread to the third floor. "People on the first floor didn't even realize there was a fire until the glass upstairs shattered and fell, alerting them to the situation." With his wife and child still trapped on the third floor, Deng Yichuan didn't hesitate and grabbed a thin coat before rushing into the fire.
Not long after, firefighters arrived at the scene and extinguished the fire. The severely burned family of three was sent to Wuhan Third Hospital.
In the afternoon of the following day, the reporter visited Wuhan Third Hospital, where the burned family of three lay in separate beds on the first, second, and third floors of the hospital's inpatient department.
Due to the burns, the child was in immense pain, often crying out. However, whenever the family played music on their phone for him, the child would immediately calm down. Watching Zirui sleep peacefully, the relatives beside him quietly shed tears because the doctor said that the child might need amputation.
The husband rushed into the fire to save his wife and child.
On the second floor, Deng Yichuan was hospitalized. This man, standing 1.8 meters tall, was unable to move on the hospital bed. His face was completely destroyed, with pus and blood continuously oozing from his eye slits. Lying in the hospital bed, he was constantly worried about his wife. "I knew before being sent out that my son was more severely burned than me, but my wife's condition is extremely serious, and I'm very worried about her."
Yet, this mother was still concerned about her son. "How is my son? Will he be disabled in the future?" she asked the reporter as her first words.
According to relatives at the hospital, both Deng Yichuan and Li Li are 27 years old this year. They got married on the day of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony and welcomed their love's offspring in April 2009. Deng Yichuan previously served in Beijing and worked independently after discharge. After graduating from university, Li Li joined the workforce, got married, and quit her job after having a child, planning to look for work again once the child turned one year old.
Currently, the cause of the fire is still under investigation.