Chinese farmer saws off his own legs as insurance will not cover medical costs

Zheng Yanliang spent much of the last 18 months sitting in a wheelchair in his Hebei farmhouse, a sheet concealing his ruined legs. His mother could not bear to look at the protruding bones.

Early last year, the 47-year-old farmer sought medical help in Baoding and Beijing for a sudden artery blockage affecting his legs. Unable to pay the potential medical bills and told that he might not survive the surgery, Zheng returned home to suffer through the pain.

"We found him painkillers, but they were of no use," said his mother, Yue Fengqin . "His cries and screams of pain could be heard outside the house."

Finally in April of last year, when his family was away, Zheng took a small fruit knife and a saw to his own legs. He chomped down on a towel wrapped around a backscratcher. He cut off his left foot at the ankle and severed his right leg at the thigh.

"Doctors said I only had three months to live," Zheng said. "It's a miracle I survived."

Horror stories like Zheng's keep making the headlines on the mainland, exposing gaps in the country's health safety net, even as authorities trumpet the health care reforms that have provided 95 per cent of the population some basic health insurance.