“菲露兹的鼻子回来啦！”中国妈妈帮非洲姑娘再造鼻子

In March 1985, Bouammouch Kheira, then 12 and suffering from stomachache, went to a hospital in Algeria's Mascara province for treatment. Li Jinrong and her team were providing medical assistance there, and when one of the doctors in the team noticed Kheira's badly disfigured nose, the tip of which had been bitten off by a donkey when the girl was just two, the doctor took Kheira to see Li.

The hospital in Wuhan had conducted nasal reconstructions since the 1960s. However, the traditional method required skin to be taken from the forehead, which left a scar on the patient's face.

After consulting medical literature and taking the Algerian hospital's limited medical capabilities into consideration, Li devised a comprehensive treatment plan and decided to transplant skin from one of Kheira's upper arms because it matched the color of her face and was only a short distance from the nose.

The reconstruction of her nose required four operations over a period of two months, including elaborate procedures that involved cutting the skin and subcutaneous fat, transferring a skin flap, immobilizing the repaired nose with plaster and trimming and reconstruction. Many people visited the hospital to witness the first such procedure in Africa. 

After its successful completion, Kheira ran from ward to ward, telling everyone she met that she now had a nose identical to theirs, courtesy of her Chinese mother, and sniffing to prove she could breathe easily and smoothly.

“Without my Chinese mother, my life would be darker than death,” she said.

When 89-year-old Li Jinrong heard someone saying "mom" in Chinese at a reception in Wuhan last month marking the 60th anniversary of China's foreign medical aid efforts, she immediately rose from her seat.

A woman with deep-set eyes and a high nose ran toward her before hugging her tightly and repeatedly whispering "mom, mom". With tears rolling down her cheeks, Li gently patted Kheira's back and replied "bonjour".

Since China dispatched its first foreign medical aid team to Algeria in 1963, nearly 30,000 medical workers have delivered treatment to nearly 300 million patients in 76 countries and regions around the world, the National Health Commission said.

"Foreign medical teams play an important role in promoting healthcare services in developing countries and striving for world peace," Li said. "We are fulfilling a glorious internationalist obligation."

去年12月29日，中国援外医疗工作座谈会在北京举行，中国国家卫生健康委员会国际合作司副司长、一级巡视员何炤华介绍，当前中国有57支医疗队在全球56个国家提供医疗服务，全球有100多个医疗点。

有1000多名中国医疗队员常年工作在世界的各个角落，为全球特别是广大发展中国家民众提供医疗服务。中国援外医疗工作是人类医疗史上持续时间最长、涵盖范围最广、提供医疗服务次数最多的一项壮举。

他表示，中国的援外医疗工作提升了许多发展中国家的医疗水平，同时造福了当地民众。中国援外医疗工作填补了许多国家在医疗技术方面的空白，同时也为派驻过培训医疗人员超10万人次。

记者：李梦涵 刘坤

实习生：万慧婷