A 19-year-old worker whose hand was ripped from his arm in an accident, but who managed to retrieve it, is recovering, a Chinese-language newspaper said on Sunday.
The Apple Daily reported that Yen Meng-ping (顏孟平), who works at a steel refinery, was cleaning train tracks at the plant on May 6 when an automated train rammed into him from behind, ripping off his left hand.
Yen bled profusely, but said the thought that “I cannot die ... if just for my grandparents” kept him going.
Yen knew how much his grandparents meant to him and he to them.
His parents divorced when he was young, and he was raised on the meager income of his grandmother scavenging and repairing fishing nets, and the retirement benefits of his grandfather, a military veteran.
Yen, who had been working part-time since his first year in high school, began working full-time in June last year. Every payday, he hands most of his monthly salary of NT$22,000 to his grandfather, leaving only a little for himself.
When the accident happened, Yen said that despite the excruciating pain, the thought of his grandparents gave him the strength to crawl 3m to retrieve the severed hand and call for help from his coworkers.
Yen was rushed to Kaohsiung Municipal Siaogang Hospital.
He underwent four major surgeries between May 6 and June 2, and received 12,000cc of blood transfusions before he was declared out of danger.
Doctors said Yen miraculously beat the 1 percent survival rate for his type of injury.
One of his doctors was Fu Yin-chih (傅尹志), the hospital’s vice superintendent, who is known for reattaching the severed left arm of Shoushan Zoo worker Chang Po-yu (張博宇), after it was bitten off by a crocodile.
Fu said Yen’s condition was much worse than Chang’s, because he also had a ruptured liver, as well as lung, liver and renal failure.
Yen nonetheless recovered well and checked out of the hospital on July 11 to begin a long and painful rehabilitation process, Fu said.
Last week, doctors found that he could move the fingers on the reattached hand a little and that he could also stand for a short time.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost