Too poor to pay, Chinese farmer saws off diseased leg

Calum MacLeod | USA TODAY

BEIJING – Unable to afford hospital fees to treat or amputate his diseased right leg, one Chinese farmer chose a drastic self-remedy. Clenching a wooden back scratcher between his teeth, Zheng Yanling, 47, took up a hacksaw and a fruit knife, and began to cut.

The home surgery, performed without anesthetic, probably saved Zheng's life. But his grim operation, done in April 2012 but only revealed in Chinese media this week, has shocked officials and ordinary citizens into offering financial and medical assistance.

His plight has also stirred debate here about stark inequalities in the nation's healthcare system.

Although the People's Republic of China is an increasingly prosperous socialist country, dominated by the Communist Party, state subsidies forhealthcare, long enjoyed by urban workers, have only recently been partially extended to the countryside, where half of China's people still live. A serious illness can still bankrupt an average rural family.

Zheng, considered a "tough guy" in his home village Dongzang, in Qingyuan county of north China's Hebei province, became a hot topic in China's online media Friday. The man himself, in pain and a wheelchair, received visits from local officials, prompted by the embarrassing coverage of their area.

"They brought gifts but no money," said Zheng. "I heard that the Baoding City No.2 Hospital may give me free treatment, but I'm not sure, they haven't confirmed that."

His troubles began in January 2012, when he felt severe pains in his stomach. Expensive trips to hospitals in Baoding and the