Dr Li Wenliang: The Hero Who Gave His Life To Save Many

Dr Li Wenliang had been excellent all of his life. From the moment he was born on 12, October 1986 in Liaoning, he had brought joy to his family.

At the young age of 25, Dr Li Wenliang had already started working at the Xiamen Eye Center of Xiamen University after completing his bachelor’s and master’s degree program in clinical medicine from Wuhan University School of Medicine. He would later become an ophthalmologist at the Wuhan Central Hospital in 2014 where he would become one of the first set of doctors to raise the alarm of a possible Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak.

Dr Li is credited with being the first medical professional to sound the alarm on the Wuhan coronavirus weeks before he contracted the illness himself and died. On December 30, 2019, he messaged his medical school alumni group on WeChat, telling them he had noticed seven cases of a virus he thought looked like SARS – a disease that spread globally in 2003.

He warned them to wear protective gear to avoid infection but a screenshot of the post with his name went viral. He told CNN before his death that, ‘I realized it was out of my control and I would probably be punished. I only wanted to remind my university classmates to be careful.’ Four days later he was summoned to the Public Security Bureau in Wuhan and made to sign a statement in which he was accused of making false statements that disturbed the public order.

The letter read, ‘We solemnly warn you: If you keep being stubborn, with such impertinence, and continue this illegal activity, you will be brought to justice – is that understood?’ Dr Li signed the letter saying, ‘Yes, I do’, and returned to work. He had been one of eight people who police said were being investigated for “spreading rumours”.

A few weeks after his visit to the Bureau, he came in contact with the virus while he was treating a patient for glaucoma. She was yet to be diagnosed with the new coronavirus. The doctor who had shared his story from his hospital bed on Chinese social media, Weibo, described how he started coughing on January 10. He said by the next day, he had a fever and two days later he was in the hospital. His parents also fell ill and were taken to the hospital.

Ten days after he had started coughing, the Chinese government finally declared the outbreak an emergency. Dr Li had also shared that he had been tested for the virus multiple times before the result came back as positive. He said on Weibo, ‘today nucleic acid testing came back with a positive result, the dust has settled, finally diagnosed’.

Chinese Publication, The People’s Daily says he died at 02:58 on Friday, February 7, 2020, from the coronavirus. His parents who had also contacted the virus pulled through and are both alive. Dr Li was also survived by his wife and son. His wife, Mrs Fu Xuejie, who was pregnant at the time of his death, gave birth to his second son in June 2020 calling him a “final gift” from Dr Li.