The 5.12 Sichuan Earthquake has been a huge destruction in the lives of the victims. The survivors have to face many difficulties; the recovery and rehabilitation process is long.

Being the StandTALL ambassador, I wish them a good future.

In a blink of an eye, two years have passed since the earthquake in Sichuan. The urban renewal projects are more or less completed, and many of the earthquake patients are recovering and reintegrating into society. Nevertheless, there is still work to be done and things to be taken care of, in particular the physical and psychological rehabilitation of the injured.

“Stand TALL” invited a number of patients to Hong Kong during the second anniversary of the earthquake. The visitors this time were youngsters, and so despite their physical disabilities, each and every one of them was full of energy. Fitted with advanced prostheses, they might as well have been completely healthy. During the trip, they visited the Diocesan Girls’ School and shared their stories with the students, reaching out and touching the hearts of many. We even took a group photo to document the occasion!

Apart from the sharing session in school, the young visitors met Professor Joseph Sung of CUHK Shaw College, who gave them a lot of encouragement. Afterwards, a group of university student volunteers led a guided tour around the Chinese University campus, giving the patients a feel of Hong Kong’s university atmosphere.

The primary objective of the patients’ trip to Hong Kong was to run observations to better understand their rehabilitation progress and their conditions of prosthesis use. Chairman Anthony Wu of the Hospital Authority paid a visit to the earthquake patients in the Prince of Wales Hospital. Furthermore, the Hong Kong media also came to understand the work of “Stand TALL” and the rehabilitation progress of the patients.

A visit to Hong Kong would not be complete without a trip to the Hong Kong Disneyland. Not only the patients had fun in the theme park, but their parents who traveled with them also seized the chance to indulge in the dreamland.

It is an infinitely heartwarming experience, witnessing the young patients leave their grief behind and wear their prostheses, embrace life and shine their winning smiles again. Although they are all recovering, the work of “Stand TALL” is not yet over. Their rehabilitation roads are lifelong, and we hope to walk with them step by step and watch them grow happily. We hope, too, that you would continue to support us and stay with us as we stand tall with the Sichuan earthquake patients.

Cycling – perhaps we have all done it before? But has anyone considered cycling for charity? Since 2009, the LP Wong Charity Trust Fund and the Hong Kong Cycling Tour Association have jointly hosted the “HK-Sichuan Heart-to-Heart Cycling Event”. This annual event of Hong Kong participants cycling to Sichuan is due to happen for 5 consecutive years. Last year, the event got the support of many avid cyclists, and all the funds raised were donated to “Stand TALL”.

This year, the LP Wong Charity Trust Fund and the HK Cycling Tour Association even invited “Stand TALL” to hold the event together. Some patients from “Stand TALL” paid a special visit to Hong Kong to attend the Opening Ceremony, and joined the participants in cycling through a section of the route. The patients shared their rehabilitation experiences in the Opening Ceremony and expressed gratitude towards Hong Kong people for the support they have given Sichuan since the earthquake. Many of the participants were moved by the courage and the stamina the patients displayed. The patients then put on their prostheses – and not just for walking. They mounted on their bikes and started cycling. Seeing the earthquake patients propel the bicycle wheels to make revolution after revolution, it was impossible not to feel a surge of admiration and motivation.

This year is the second anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake. RTHK visited Sichuan to interview “Stand TALL” beneficiaries as part of their feature documentary production. As the Ambassador, I also traveled to Chengdu to be updated with the patients’ most recent conditions.

We followed three particular patients closely during this visit – Wang Rui, Li Zhongqiu and Wang Peng. Wang Rui and Li Zhongqiu are both training table-tennis, and during the interview, I talked to them about their training experiences and shared with them thoughts as an athlete myself. I encouraged them to give it their best – the opportunity to play for the country is certainly in sight.Afterwards, we visited Wang Peng. Wang Peng is an orphan and life has been tough on him, but he is still giving it his best shot. He has been really hardworking and his efforts have paid off – he won a scholarship to go to a Chengdu university to study engineering.

During the earthquake, Wang Peng was doing an internship at a factory. He was based in Chengdu and was thus able to avoid the earthquake. However, his anxiety over the safety of his Wenchuan colleagues brought him to Wenchuan. He joined his company’s rescue team and on the way to Wenchuan, he fell prey to the aftershock. Some broken rocks from the earthquake struck his foot, and it was so severe that he had to undergo a calf amputation in the end. In his most difficult hour, Wang Peng met the love of his life.

A young lady from Tsinghai was moved by the reports of Wang Peng and decided to pay him a visit in Chengdu. Thus two previously unrelated lives were connected from this point onwards. They got married one year after.
Seeing our patients rise above their grief and difficulties touches me. I hope that they will be able to live bravely in the future days to come, and influence those around them with their indefatigable spirit.

Stand TALL is a charity organization that aims to help the Sichuan earthquake patients with rehabilitation . The organization expenditure of Stand TALL is supported by the Government fund and public donation , a s prosthetic equipment is tailor made and highly technologically equipped. For example, a myo-electric hand costs HKD$80,000. The target patient group of Stand TALL is children. The rehabilitation expenditure for a child, including physiotherapy treatment, occupation therapy treatment and prosthetic equipment, can be very huge. Therefore, Stand TALL needs public support in order to continue with the services in Sichuan.

Stand TALL received a donation from the Rotary Club and bought 4 high technology rehabilitation machines. The machines help patients to carry out rehabilitation treatments. On Aug 1, the opening ceremony of Smart Rehabilitation Program took place in the Hong Kong – Sichuan Rehabilitation Centre. The representatives of Rotary Club of Tai Po have come to the Centre attending the ceremony. I was the M.C. of the ceremony.
On that day, Stand TALL physiotherapist introduced how those machines can help patients doing exercises. Other than exercise demonstration, patients also sang songs and played music instruments for us. We are so thankful for the donation of Rotary Club of Tai Po. Please continue to support Stand TALL in the future!