Heart-rending stories from the rubble

Earlier I thought that no TV image could beat the sight of Premier Wen Jiabao comforting a young girl whose parents were killed in the 12 May earthquake. As the girl was weeping, Wen was telling her to live on with determination since she had survived. Robina was crying her eyes out...

This evening on Chinese CCTV, I saw the news clip on the rescue of a young man, Chen Jian, who was trapped under a collapsed building in Wenchuan for 73 hours before rescuers got to him. Pinned down under 3 concrete slabs, Chen was conscious and kept talking to the rescue team and journalists. His words were not focus on his own misery or suffering, but were words of determination. After 6 hours of digging, Chen was freed but as he was carried away for treatment, Chen went into cardiac arrest and even CPR by rescuers failed to revive him. It was such a tragedy that a young man had died moments after being pulled out from tons of concrete and surviving a massive earthquake. Chen had a young pregnant wife waiting for him in his home town.