Author: Xiong Kang, Li Han

Translated by: Wu Xia

Although his left foot was severely stung, Rao Xin, a critical care physician at Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, remained in the isolation ward. Although it is impossible to accurately measure the weight of the fear of the virus and the physician's sense of responsibility, the scales of the limping Dr. Rao have been leaning towards the latter.

After wearing a mask at his mother-in-law's home, Rao stood far away and looked at his 8-year-old daughter across two rooms.

After taking up his post in the intensive care unit, this scene would appear when he misses his daughter. Normally, 36-year-old Rao traveled between the hospital and the hotel, carefully grasping the balance between his thoughts and the safety of his family in the role of doctor and father.

In the intensive care unit built in January in the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, even if all the doctors were wearing uniform medical protective clothing, goggles and masks, they could still recognize Rao at a glance- walking on a crutch and limping a little. .

A few days before entering the isolation ward, the doctor, who had been working in the critical care department for 9 years, suffered a severe sting in his left foot and even felt that he might have a fracture. The orthopedist diagnosis recommended that he stay in bed for at least two weeks.

However, Rao has been scheduled to enter the isolation ward 1 on January 18 and rotate the first batch of colleagues. At this time, it is difficult to find a suitable attending physician to replace him. If Rao follows the orthopedist's recommendations for rehabilitation, it will inevitably affect the entire shift plan that has been finalized.

After lying in the house for 4 days, Rao Yue could not wait. Anxious to recover, he tried to get out of bed and pace, and practiced going up and down stairs in a community without an elevator. Later, Rao bought two crutches for himself, and planned to put one in an isolation room and the other outside the ward to reduce the risk of carrying viruses.

On January 18, at the scheduled shift time, Rao walked with crutches, arriving at the hospital half an hour in advance. "Although the legs and feet are inconvenient, my head is still awake and I can go to work," he said.

As one of the second round of working doctors in the intensive care unit, from January 18 to January 31, Rao has been performing his daily work tasks according to plan: changing protective clothing, discussing patient conditions, conducting rounds, communicating and analyzing, and communicating with the patient's family ... Except for the crutch, Rao looks no different from other doctors.

Heavy protective clothing will undoubtedly make the job more difficult. To help a patient weighing 75 kg to turn over, usually three or four people are needed here, but now six or seven are needed; puncture and intubation of the patient needs more patience and skills, as the vision is severely restricted.

During the interview, Rao admitted that he was “very afraid of contracting new coronavirus pneumonia”. He would wear an extra surgical gown in protective clothing every time he entered the intensive care unit to ensure safety.

Although the weight of this instinctive fear and the physician's sense of responsibility cannot be accurately measured, it is clear that Rao's balance is tilting towards the latter.

Now that Rao's foot injury has recovered, on February 12, he will again go to the isolation ward of Zhongnan Hospital. The crutch was still in its original position, and it seemed to form some kind of metaphor and symbol: Rao himself-the doctor, just like a strong crutch on the road to the recovery of a patient.