Subject: Petition: Death of a student

From: ECHO WANG <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 1994 13:59:39 -0400 (EDT)

Dear friends,

	Inclosed is the petition letter from Peter Xiao, coordinater of 
Zhao Hua (UWI) case.  We got to know Zhao's tragedy, mostly because he 
was one of us--overseas students.  But such "accidents" are far from 
being unique in China.  Just think that's where our parents, our brothers 
and sisters live, that's where our home is!  It happened to Zhao Hua, and 
hell knows how many other lay men.  It could happen to somebody you know, 
you love.
	People from different places are organizing, trying to help 
Zhao's family to fight for justice.  As you all well know, it is 
extremely hard in China.  So whatever you can do, please show your support!

	The following is the petition letter calling for signatures.  You 
can send your signature directly to Peter Xiao at: 

		[email-masked].

Zhao Hua's family needs you!

Wang Jing
____________________________________________________________________________
Forwarded message:
> From [email-masked] Fri Apr 29 02:07:08 1994
> From: [email-masked]
> Date: Thu, 28 Apr 94 23:06:03 PDT
> Message-Id: <[email-masked]>
> To: [email-masked]
> Cc: [email-masked], [email-masked]
> In-Reply-To: ECHO WANG's message of Thu, 28 Apr 1994 20:40:25 -0400 (EDT) <[email-masked]>
> 

Petition letter as follows:

> 
> To whom it may concern,
> 
> We are writing to you concerning the death of Hua Zhao during his home
> visiting trip in January 1994.
> 
> Hua Zhao was a Chinese student studying at the University of Wisconsin
> at Madison. He went back to China visiting his parents at the end of
> December, 1993. He passed away on January 20, 1994 in Huashan Hospital
> in Shanghai.
> 
> This news shocked many of us who knew Hua well before and could hardly
> believe a young and fulfilling life could end so suddenly.  More to
> our surprise, sorrow and anger, we learned later from Hua's family
> that some doctors in Huashan Hospital were totally irresponsible at
> their job and they were the direct cause of this tragedy. They made
> one mistake after another in the rescue process. Hua was denied to
> stay in the emergency care room for observation the night before his
> death when he was in critical condition already.  The next morning,
> valuable time was lost when some doctors insisted on full payment
> before they could start their medical procedures, even though Hua's
> mother repeatedly promised them that money was on its way. At another
> crucial moment, when Hua needed an infusion of blood platelets, the
> doctors said that the platelets were out in storage and the family was
> asked to find them by its own. When Hua's mother eventually found the
> platelets in another hospital, the doctors didn't even make a phone
> call to complete the requesting procedure. Actually Hua's mother was
> told later by staffs in the blood storage center in Huashan that they
> were ready to make blood platelets at that time.  When finally Hua's
> parents-in-law brought four boxes of blood platelets and flew in from
> Beijing, Hua had already passed away ...
> 
> A doctor was even seen to be changing Hua's medical records on Jan. 19.
> 
> After this tragedy, Huashan first admitted making a few small
> mistakes. But later it completely denied any wrongdoing and
> irresponsibility in the whole procedure.
> 
> Until now, Hua's family still cannot go back to its normal life. Hua's
> 80-year-old grandmother, who was so glad to see her grandson coming
> back to visit from far away, could not take in this tragedy and got
> sick in bed. hua's wife, also a student of University of Wisconsin,
> went back with Hua. She lost her husband and now has to delay her
> study and stay at home for a semester to take care of family matters.
> Hua's mother, a strong woman, who still hasn't recovered from the
> great pains of losing his son, has been fighting an up-hill battle to
> see the justice served. But she has encountered enormous difficulties.
> Shanghai Medical School, the management party of Huashan Hospital is
> delaying a overdue investigation. Hua's former working unit refused to
> represent Hua because he was an overseas student. The help-me phone
> calls the mother made to a local radio station were disconnected every
> time without a reply.
> 
> We think what happened to Hua and his family is completely
> contradictory to the government policy of encouraging overseas
> students coming back to visit, stay and work. It is also inconsistent
> with the policy of respecting knowledge and intellectuals. In order to
> prevent incidents like this from occurring again and to save all the
> patients who can be saved, we firmly urge you start a thorough and
> comprehensive investigation immediately and draw a clear and fair
> conclusion for Hua's family.  Your prompt action will show the
> sincerity to welcome overseas students back to China.
> 
> Hua's death is a great loss to his family, his friends and his
> country. His tragedy is not only of his own, but is of all.
> 
> He is always going to be remembered by us.
> 
> 
> Signed by 
> 
> Guanlong Chen, Fei Deng, Fang Dong, Yitong Gu, Qing Ke, Zhen Hu,
> Jianfeng Ma, Jun Mao, Youbin Mao, Yuan Ren, Bing D. Su, Ye Sun,
> Zhen-Yu Sun, Jane Wang, Hong Xiao, Lixin Yang, Jihui Yang, Kun Yang,
> Weidong Yang, Hong Yu, Jun Zang, Donghui Zhang, Yuanhan Zhang,
> Jiangwen Zhu
> 
> 
> April 12, 1994