Pregnant woman rescued in quake delivers baby named 'Love'

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-19 12:46

Urumqi -- A little over a month ago, Zhang Xiaoyan lay in the rubble of her earthquake-shattered apartment building. Trapped for more than 50 hours, she prayed for the life of her unborn child.

"Even if I didn't make it, I just wanted my baby to survive," she said. "I was holding out hope during the earthquake that this day would come."

Zhang Xiaoyan kisses her newborn daughter at a hospital in Urumqi, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, June 18, 2008. [Chengdu Business Daily]

That day was Wednesday, when Zhang's daughter was born by Caesarean section in the Urumqi Maternal Care Hospital. Hours later, Zhang said as she reclined next to her newborn baby, a rosy-cheeked infant swaddled in a pink floral blanket.

Zhang's dramatic rescue in the town of Dujiangyan, captured in photos and video footage that made their way around the globe, was a rare bright spot after the May 12 earthquake that ravaged mountainous Sichuan province and killed almost 70,000 people.

Emergency workers trying not to bring down the rest of the pancaked, seven-story building pulled out Zhang, 35. A bulldozer had to raise its scoop 18 feet (6 meters) so workers could lay her in it. As they did, a rescuer raised a thumbs-up to the crowd of neighbors, who cheered and clapped.

The image of the eight-month pregnant Zhang being carried on a stretcher, her stomach protruding from under a blue sweater and pink pants, was played on TV screens and newspapers across China as well as in media abroad. Her 63-year-old mother also was pulled out alive.

Zhang Xiaoyan, who is eight months pregnant, is pulled alive on May 14, 2008, from an apartment that partially collapsed following the May 12 quake in Dujiangyan, Southwest China's Sichuan Province. [Agencies]

"When we were stuck in the debris there, I just held on to the hope that we would share this time we have here now," said Zhang, who remarkably suffered only superficial injuries. "Because we were buried in there, we didn't know if we'd ever get out, and I was just thinking, 'Save my child. Save my child.'"

Zhang named her 7-pound, 4-ounce (3.3-kilogram) girl "Ai," or "Love," in honor of the rescuers and other strangers who have showered her with kindness, gifts and VIP treatment since she was pulled out of the wreckage.

Because Zhang spent 50 hours trapped in the partially collapsed building, doctors said her unborn child initially suffered some dehydration and low blood sugar. By the time of her birth Wednesday, however, she had improved and doctors said she was healthy.

Before Ai was born, Zhang said that if her child was a boy, "I'd like to train him to be a pilot or a rescue worker, because they are the ones that saved us and gave us a second chance at life. If it is a girl baby, I would also want to teach her to be a useful person that helps people in need."

Because of the publicity stemming from her rescue, Zhang became something of a celebrity. She was flown first-class from Sichuan to Urumqi, located in her home region of Xinjiang in China's southwest, and was given a private room in the maternity hospital.

Doctors and nurses, who clearly were moved by Zhang's saga, donated clothing to her and her mother to replace items lost in the quake. The staff also gave gifts for the baby: clothes, a stroller, a tiny bathtub, bottles, shampoo, lotion and wipes. Her room also contained gifts of fruit and a bowl of hard-boiled eggs, dyed red for good luck.

On Wednesday, Zhang was still a bit groggy from the Caesarean section, but she spoke briefly by telephone with her husband, Pan Yuncheng, who remains in a makeshift camp in Dujiangyan. The phone call was set up by a local radio station.

"I want to thank all the people that were helpful. It was very moving," he said in the conversation as his daughter gave out a loud yell over the phone.