Girl hit by 2 vans worsens; hero flees

Wang Yue, a two-year-old girl run over by a pair of vans and ignored by 18 passers-by in the southern city of Foshan, lies in the intensive care unit in a hospital in Guangzhou City yesterday. Her condition is deteriorating after last Thursday's accident, and the hospital has stopped admitting the public for visits.

Photo by En Pu

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THE condition of the 2-year-old girl who was run over by two vans in Foshan City in southern Guangdong Province worsened and doctors were trying to save her life yesterday.

The hospital reported her condition without going into details. Her mother fainted after learning the news.

"We have invited experts from Beijing to join in the rescue of her life," said Wen Qiang, deputy director of the ICU at the General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command.

Meanwhile, Chen Xianmei, the only one to lend a helping hand among the 19 people who passed by the little girl after she was hit, left Foshan because she became fed up with malicious slander and the harassment from hundreds of media outlets.

The 1.4-meter-tall illiterate woman, 58, has seen her personal life turned upside down after the accident, which garnered her overnight fame.

She has been contacted hundreds of times for media interviews. Her cell phone was ringing all day long and many reporters packed her apartment for face-to-face interviews, prompting her landlady to threaten to end her lease.

Most people acclaimed her as a moral role model against the other 18 indifferent passers-by. Some people whom she didn't know smiled at her wherever she came around.

On the other hand, some people challenged her purpose for doing what others dared not do for fear of extortion from victims and their families. Chen and her family members had been asked whether she did this to become famous, which hurt her badly. Some annoying neighbors wanted to know how much award she earned through the incident.

Chen's son was very angry and said, "My mother cannot read newspaper at all. Why will she want to become famous?"

Chen turned off her cell phone and secretly left for her hometown, Qingyuan in Guangdong Province, last night to reunite with her husband.

Chen came to Foshan in 2009 to support her children and take care of her grandchildren. Before leaving the city, she sent all the reward money that she received to the girl's family to support her treatment.

She said she thought what she did was ordinary and she accepted the government rewards only to avoid more misunderstandings.

Wang Chichang, the girl's father, has opened a bank account to deposit the funds he received through public donations to pay for his daughter's medical bills. He said he would publish the account and donate the remainder of the money if his daughter dies.

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