◎ Reporter Zhang Qiang Correspondent Zhou Han Cao Xi
On the morning of May 22, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Naval Military Medical University held a memorial service for the third anniversary of the death of academician Wu Mengchao in Shanghai.
Stars cross the sea, and time has become a monument. In the Happiness and Longevity Garden, all the staff stood in awe facing the tomb of Wu Laolao, and family representatives lit their hearts. The cemetery is quiet and solemn, and Wu's family members gently wipe Wu's bronze statue and tombstone with silk cloth.
On May 22, 2021, Academician Wu Mengchao, the 99 year old "Father of Chinese Hepatobiliary Surgery", left his beloved land. From the age of 17, when he was determined to return to China and devote himself to serving the country as a doctor, to the age of 97, when he was still struggling in the shadows, he performed more than 16000 operations and treated nearly 20000 patients. With his childlike feelings of "serving the country and the people with all his heart", he explained to the world what a great doctor of the times is.
At the memorial ceremony, Li Liangdong, the political commissar of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University, said that although the old Wu had gone away, the "four brave (eternal) spirits" and "four love hearts" he left behind were shining like asteroid 17606 (i.e., Wu Meng Superstar), illuminating the way forward for the hospital officers and soldiers.
Wu Mengchao devoted his life to the cause of hepatobiliary surgery in China, and the development of the discipline and the construction of the hospital were his main concerns. At the memorial ceremony, Sun Juxian, a young doctor, recalled that the 2017 Spring Festival holiday had just ended and he accompanied Wu Mengchao to see the clinic. A three-year-old girl was diagnosed with advanced liver cancer with multiple lung metastases. After many hospitals failed to seek medical treatment, her mother took her to Wu Mengchao's outpatient clinic. On that day, Wu Mengchao not only took the little girl to have a B-scan, but also invited the whole hospital to consult and give her the best treatment plan.
At that time, Wu Mengchao said to the little girl's mother, "There are too few drugs available now. If there is a new drug, I will give it to her first." Then Wu Mengchao said to Sun Juxian and other doctors present, "It seems that the research and development of liver cancer drugs should keep up with the speed of surgery."
"I keep this sentence in mind all the time, and the research direction has also changed to the comprehensive treatment of liver cancer with lung metastasis. Finally, last year, we successfully improved China's unique intravenous chemotherapy program, and the first-line and second-line treatment of advanced liver cancer with lung metastasis were both successful. The articles formed by this project were published in authoritative academic journals, and many patents were applied for and successfully transformed." Sun Juxian sighed, "Now we can save thousands of patients like that little girl!"
Then, all the staff bowed three times to the statue of Old Wu, presented flowers in turn and wrote a message. The flowers represent countless flower like lives that Mr. Wu has saved. The message contains the ideal belief that hospital officers and soldiers learn from Mr. Wu and take the patient's health as the only concern and sustenance.
In front of the tomb of Old Wu, Sun Juxian, as the young medical worker representative of the hospital, said that everyone would inherit the old Wu's will and live up to the old Wu's expectations. With stronger determination, more firm confidence and more lasting love, we will work hard in this hot land to protect people's health and build a world-class naval hospital.
"You said, 'May there be no liver cancer in the world'. I think your wish should be continued by our generation," said Sun Juxian.
