Change of heart

A man, who lived with a protruding and defective heart for 24 years, is finally able to walk upright. He tells Liu Zhihua his story.

For the first time in 24 years, Huang Rongming's heart is concealed and his belly flat.

"It's a dream come true. I'm going to lead a normal life like everyone else," says the young man from a mountainous village in Xinyang city, Henan province.

Huang successfully underwent open-heart surgery in April at Wuhan Union Hospital, in the capital city of Hubei province, to correct the deformities.

Before the operation, Huang lived with his heart seen pumping through a thin layer of skin and bulging out from his upper belly.

It is a miracle he survived this long. When Huang was born, doctors had predicted that he would not survive, as his protruding heart had defects and was not well protected.

Doctors could try surgery, which would cost at least 50,000 yuan ($7,910), but Huang's parents, who are farmers, could not afford it.

"We lived in anxiety when he was a little boy," recalls Huang's mother, Zhang Yuanfeng, adding that he was not allowed to play with other children for fear that he would meet with accidents.

Outdoor activities were avoided as much as possible because Huang would become breathless after a few steps, and his skin turned blue because of the lack of oxygen.

"During PE lessons, I could only watch from a distance. Teachers were nice. Some kids showed sympathy, but there were also some who laughed at me," says Huang, who started school at age 9.

Once, someone spat in his lunch, which made his mother cry for a day.

Zhang used to carry Huang along a 1.5-km mountain road to school. But the diabetic mother had no strength to continue carrying Huang when he entered junior high as he grew heavier and the school was farther. Huang had to stop school at 14.

When he turned 19, Huang went to Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, to work in a factory to help support his family of six.

His job, packaging shoes, was not too tedious, and he had helpful colleagues. But he would still turn breathless after just 10 minutes of walking.

To hide his condition from others, he wore at least two layers of clothes even in the summer and avoided communal showers.

"I don't know how they would react if they knew my heart was so different," he says.

He fell in love but broke up soon after, as his family felt it was unfair for the girl to have a "futureless" relationship.

Earlier this year, his friends persuaded him to seek treatment at Wuhan Union Hospital.

Dong Nianguo, a chief cardiac surgeon with the hospital, was astonished by the case. "It's a miracle he is still alive," Dong says.

He says Huang suffered from congenital heart displacement, which only occurs in between five and eight people out of 1 million. Most of the patients die soon after birth.

Tests showed Huang's condition was deteriorating, and he needed immediate surgery, which could cost about 200,000 yuan. Knowing Huang could not afford the surgery, a doctor advised him to publicize his condition in the media and seek donations.

Huang's story attracted many compassionate readers from Wuhan and donations poured in quickly. Within six days after his story was reported on March 16, Huang had received 60,000 yuan. Then, the family received 150,000 yuan from an anonymous donor.

Huang finally had his high-risk operation on April 16, during which doctors repaired his heart's defects, moved his heart inside his chest and covered it with an artificial shell that resembles the ribs he lacks.

The surgery lasted 10-and-a-half hours. "Time passed by so slowly when he was in the operating theater. An hour felt like a year," his father, Huang Baojiang, says.

The surgery was a success and Huang was allowed to return home on May 17.

"His chest and belly are now almost as flat as any of ours. His heart is functioning well," says Sun Jiaming, the chief cosmetic surgeon.

Huang Rongming says: "I am now normal, thanks to the many kind souls."

Contact the writer at liuzhihua@chinadaily.com.cn.