US student seek help for paralyzed Chinese girlfriend

 

Colin Pemp helping Xiaohua with her daily excercise. Photo provided by Colin Pemp

 

By Liang Meilan

At the newly-built Dalong New Village in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, people often see a tall, slim foreigner assisting a handicapped Chinese woman, holding her hand as she takes shaky steps.
 
The foreigner is Colin Pemp, 28, a student from Idaho, US. He is currently studying Chinese at Suzhou University and works part-time as an English tutor. The woman is Xiaohua, Pemp’s girlfriend, who became partially paralyzed after a traffic accident in 2008.

The couple were walking down a street one evening in July 2008 when Xiaohua was knocked down by a motorcycle and the right side of her head struck a sharp rock. She was in a coma for a month and when she regained consciousness found she no longer had any sensation on the left side of her body.

While Xiaohua was in a coma in the hospital’s intensive care unit, Pemp spent 4,000 to 8,000 yuan a day on her medical bills. Xiaohua, originally from Hezhou, Guangxi Province, comes from a poor family, so Pemp was their only hope.

Pemp asked his parents for help, and he and some friends also organized a fundraising bazaar. “We needed 50,000 yuan for medical care and two big operations,” he said.

“To ask the driver for money was not going to help. He was an uneducated poor laborer who did not receive any driver’s training,” he said. “I don’t want to shift the blame to an impoverished man.”

To help Xiaohua walk again, Pemp bought her a treadmill and helped her exercise every day. His mother, a teacher at a handicapped school in the US, came over last year to help with Xiaohua’s care.

He also hired a nursemaid to help Xiaohua with basic tasks, such as getting dressed, bathing and managing in the bathroom.

“Xiaohua’s condition is improving. She can walk short distances using a cane,” Pemp said, describing her as “80 percent recovered.” But he said “the risk of her falling down is still high because her balance is just average.”

To speed up her recovery, Pemp said Xiaohua needs to be moved to a rehabilitation center with trained therapists and the necessary facilities and equipment.

“I cannot afford it, though I do the best I can to make money. The fees are really high,” Pemp said. “The money I’ve made is only enough for our daily expenses, apartment rent and the nursemaid.

Apart from money, the couple’s other big problem is who will take care of Xiahua when Pemp finishes his studies and returns to the US.

“I promised to stay until she can walk on her own and start her own business,” he said. “But it seems unfair to me to stay in China for the rest of my life. I hope some organization or the government can continue to take care of her when my visa expires.”