The remarkable video showcases a group of doctors carrying out a life-saving brain surgery despite being affected by the tremors of a devastating 7.1-magnitude earthquake.
Surveillance camera footage from Xinjiang‘s Aral Hospital, in China, shows the medics carrying out the craniotomy on a patient who suffered head trauma during a car accident at around 2:09am on 23rd January.
Neurosurgeon An Shufang, 30, and his team then remained composed and kept performing the complex procedure despite witnessing the swaying lights, swinging intravenous lines, and the trembling operating table.
In the clip, some of the nurses can be heard saying: “It’s an earthquake, it’s an earthquake.”
Shufang then responded: “Calm down, calm down.”
Following the four-hour-long surgery, the patient’s vital signs stabilised and the operation was deemed a success.
In an interview with Chinese media, the neurosurgeon said that they began operating the patient at around 11:30pm the night before, and finished shortly before 3am.
Shufang said: “At that time, the patient’s condition was quite serious. He was in a coma, had unstable blood pressure, and had multiple injuries.
“There were injuries all over his body. The problem on his head was more urgent, so he underwent a craniotomy.
“The effect of the operation was pretty good, and the patient is now in intensive care. His subsequent treatment requires multidisciplinary collaboration.”
The medic explained that despite the earthquake lasting for two minutes, they were unable to halt the procedure due to its critical nature.
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He added: “If you evacuate, where can the patient go? There is no way to evacuate.
“I didn’t think too much about it at the time. I focused all my energy on the patient. Because this is a doctor’s job. There is nothing special about it.”
After the operation, Shufang called his family to check whether they were safe.
He said he felt extremely worried after realising that it was actually a 7.1-magnitude earthquake that struck Wushi County, in the city of Aksu Prefecture, in China’s northwestern autonomous territory of Xinjiang.
The team of medics were praised as heroes after the video emerged on China’s version of TikTok, Douyin, later that morning.
Having reached more than 175,000 likes and over 19,000 shares as of 25th January, it left netizens unable to hold back from commenting.
Douyin user ‘fat mop’ said: “No one can run away, it’s the doctor’s responsibility.”
User ‘Miao Fang Qingyan Xifeng Store’ commented: “This patient’s encounter with an earthquake during surgery was probably the greatest misfortune in his life! But he is most lucky to meet such responsible doctors and nurses!”
And ‘JUSCO’ added: “It’s really not easy being a doctor.”
According to reports, at least three people were killed in the devastating earthquake, with another five being injured and 12,400 ending up displaced from their homes.
