Persisting over tragedy, 11-year-old Chinese girl continues playing the piano after explosion causes severe burn injuries
- He Yuxin was an ordinary girl who enjoyed playing the piano and dreamed of performing live
- But after an explosion led to severe burn injuries, she has had to overcome an unbelievably difficult challenge
He Yuxin sat in front of the camera and started to play the piano, a typical activity for many young children. But for the 11-year-old girl, it was an act of perseverance; a statement that she would triumph over the explosion that left her severely injured.
The family had gone to sleep with no idea that their lives would change forever.
“It was about 5am when her grandmother woke up to cook. She did not realise there was a gas leak,” Li told the South China Morning Post.
“My husband and I heard a ‘Bang!’ and rushed out of bed to find the house on fire,” Li said, weeping. “The child was in her room, which was close to the kitchen, and when she was carried out, her entire body was on fire and burning.”
After the local hospital told Li that they could not help the girl, she was sent to a hospital in Luoyang, 140km away. Doctors said around 68 per cent of her body had been burned.
Her grandmother, who was closer to the explosion, had 71 per cent of her skin burned.
The young girl begged the paramedics in the ambulance: “I hate the way I feel now. Please help me.”
Li could not stop sobbing and fainted numerous times while waiting outside the emergency ward.
“My daughter’s life is only getting started, and she still has a lot of dreams,” Li said. “I cannot live without her.”
Following a discussion with her husband, a for-hire truck driver, the couple, with a monthly salary of 8,200 yuan (US$1,300), decided to borrow money from relatives and friends to pay for the treatments for the grandmother and child.
After more than 10 surgeries and months of therapy, He and her grandmother began to stabilise.
However, He’s burns had already done irreparable harm, and the scars had severely hampered her ability to move. In the early days of her recovery, He could not lift her arms or straighten her fingers. Right now, she can only slightly move three of her fingers.
Due to the extensive burns, she still needs to wear a full-body compression garment to prevent and control excessive scar growth.
The injuries prevented He from playing the piano as she used to, but her passion for music compelled her to continue practising.
Li said that she borrowed an electric piano from a friend so that He could practise at home.
“She practised so passionately that I once observed her striking the keys so hard that her fingers were oozing blood,” Li recalled.
I hate the way I feel now. Please help me.
Regardless of how painful it was, He persisted in relearning how to hold a pen, write, and play the piano.
“I was scared I wouldn’t be able to play the piano after I got hurt, so I practise every day,” He said. “This helps my fingers heal a bit.”
Li said that her daughter is the strong one in the relationship.
“When I would sigh, she would say to me, ‘Since it’s already like this, why don’t we live happily’,” Li said.
