Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting
October 1st, 2008 | by This is China! |I spent this past Saturday night in a hospital at the bedside of a Danish friend who was fighting for his life. His car had been smashed up at an intersection in Suzhou Industrial Park by a truck whose driver couldn’t wait the extra two minutes it would take to stop when the traffic light turned red on his side. It was late Friday night. My friend had had a long day of meetings. He was on his way home to be with his girlfriend.
For twenty-four hours after the accident he was in danger of losing his life. The right side of his skull from the scalp across the eye to the cheeks had been shattered. The pressure on his brain had to be brought down. He was not permitted to move his head, or his body. One miracle was that it was only this patch of skull that was damaged; the rest of his body was without a mark. The car had been cleaved into a crippled V-shape.
An insurance company representative came from Nanjing by bullet train a little more than half a day after the accident. She carried a bag of money. As long as the police were informed of the accident, there was little more for the insurers to do but to pay out for what is too common a problem in China: beating the stop light.
I spent the afternoon helping my friend’s American girlfriend with the local police and helping track down his passport; the police needed it to complete the report. Meanwhile, the Founder of the Asia Base group of companies, Peter Rasmussen, translated between surgeons, patients and loved ones across Chinese, Danish and English languages for twelve hours straight. He saw to all the Chinese bureaucratic details that would have overwhelmed the uninitiated.
There was no question in anyone’s mind who was at fault; indeed, the truck driver called his the owner of the local logistics company from the scene of the accident to say there was “a problem.” The owner raced to the scene of the accident and personally took my friend to a downtown hospital and paid cash so my friend would be admitted to the hospital. It was some four hours, though, before anyone knew where my friend lay.
Several days later and he is out of danger. He will be flown out of the country to reconstruct the shattered and fractured parts of his skull. The other miracle is that his body has stabilized quickly enough that he can withstand the travel involved for such surgeries. Peter saw to the Chinese permissions and approvals required to ensure my friend was able to make that MedEvac flight to Bangkok with the least discomfort.
One of the reasons one chooses to be an expat is to take advantage of work- and life-related activities that one likely does not have in his country of origin. Another reason is for the Thrill of the Difference: different culture, different food, different geography. There is even sometimes the thrill of danger: the possible cross-cultural faux pas; traveling by bus or train to another city; crossing the street; even driving home after work. Of course, China is no different than other developing countries in the level of risk one assumes just living here; but, of course, the risks here have “Chinese characteristics”.
Some of the characteristics involve stupid, unnecessary risks to life and limb: for the Chinese themselves, for those just visiting, and for others who choose to make China their home. Let’s hope the Road to Civilization is not paved with too many more victims of The Chinese Way.
.
6 Responses to “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting”
By David on Oct 1, 2008 | Reply
I’ve experienced similar when a friend was hit by a bus right outside our office.
Whilst the bus company officials behaved like the truck company - they paid for everything - I dread to think what would have happened if we had not been present.
The low point was when the Neurosurgeon turned to us and said “Maybe we should drill a hole in his head to release the pressure, but obviously there’s a risk in doing so, or maybe we should wait a few hours and do another scan, but obviously if he’s bleeding internally that could be risky too - what would you like us to do?”. He wouldn’t be drawn to give any actual advice for fear that, if wrong and a foreigner might die he’d be in trouble. Even the suggestion that we understood that there’s a risk either way but, with him being the consultant, NOT giving advice is truly negligent simply didn’t faze.
It certainly made me realise the true value of good medical insurance - without a doctor who was prepared to give real advice on the phone and without the ability to airlift my friend to a first class facility I dread to think how it might have gone.
By Tom on Oct 1, 2008 | Reply
it is truly exciting to be a globe-trotting cosmpolitan in this borderless era where people really need to be on the move as part of the career competencies that are required in this era.
one also gain personal growth from the learning of different cultures and the taking in of different cultural insights.
i do agree wholeheartedly with you that we must constantly be careful in foreign lands.
By Lina in China on Oct 2, 2008 | Reply
The traffic in China is very scary. There are so many bad accidents.
China is safe, my Chinese friends tell me.
Unless there is an accident, I usually add.
Your experience is scary.
By Tony on Oct 2, 2008 | Reply
Bag of money? How much is it? Expat has benefits that local Chinese don’t.
The last I read, China has a saving rate higher than even Japan. The reason is that they do not have adequate insurance. What if disaster strikes? They could only count on themselves.
By Jamieson on Oct 22, 2008 | Reply
You are a good man Bill, staying at the hospital bedside of a friend who was in a critical condition. Were there any other of his friends or colleagues that you could contact ? Did anyone else visit ?
I see the red-light-runners every day here in Suzhou. Guys honking through at speed, a good 10 seconds after the red light. We get bike riders jauntily riding through a red light, as if it was an advisory, not a command. Or perhaps they don’t realise that red means stop, and it is not a Pepsi challenge ?
Sometimes I wonder if *some of the* Chinese have a curious genetic death wish. “That it won’t happen to me, and if it did, they’ll pay - even though I am totally at fault.”
I’m a nice, obedient Laowai. I stop at the white line on a red and await my turn - and I wear a bike helmet, just as I would do in Australia.
Ride a bike in Oz with no helmet and the Cops bust you - $25 on the spot fine, and a severe reprimand.
Yeah, got personal insurance for hospital, expatriation and so on.
Stupidity, if you could sell it - would make billions in China. I wonder if there is a compulsory course at school, or is it natural ?
By This is China! on Oct 23, 2008 | Reply
Jamieson;
I like the way you stated Chinese perceptions of the red light: an “advisory,” not a command. Why pay attention to something that’s going to change any minute now, anyway?
To your question about whether others knew or came to his bedside: his girlfriend and parents had to beat off the entire Danish community in Suzhou (which numbers nearly 200) to keep them away from his bedside.
An update: he returned this past weekend from Suzhou from Bangkok, where he underwent very successful skull surgery. He is walking and talking now, and told by the doctors he can work up to 2 hours each day.
He drove to Shanghai to meet the Danish Prime Minister two days ago.