"We are trying to help Chris," said Miko, a Dane who speaks Chinese in a Changchun local accent, who is narrating the story of his friend Chris, who got an arm injured at home, and urgently needs money to pay his medical bills. Miko, a tutor at a Changchun private school, saw a Wechat message which read "who can help me?"on the early morning of January 20.

"I immediately made a phone call to Chris to see what had happened," said Miko. An emergency worker answered Miko’s phone and told him that Chris was in an ambulance.

"He asked me to bring a Chinese friend for help at the hospital, too," the Dane said.

When Miko and Mr. Han, his Chinese friend, arrived at Changchun Central hospital where Chris had been admitted, one ER doctor informed them that Chris needed surgery as the humerus on his left arm had been broken and bone fragments had plunged into his muscle.

Later, Chris recalled that he had slipped on the ground as his shoes had brought in some snow after midnight on January 19. "I hit my left forehead on the chair, and struck my head on the wall," Chris said. "Then I lost my balance and broke my bone." However, the operation will cost around 30,000 yuan, which is a large sum of money for expats who usually don’t have much savings. "Chris has insurance but only receives a small amount of reimbursement afterwards," Miko said.

"And he is unable to get compensation from work", because he adds, "Chris got injured at home and not at work."

Desperate for help, Miko turned to his Wechat friends for help. "We have a “Changchuner" group launched by a bunch of expats, and many give each other a hand," Miko said.

Fortunately, they collected 10,000 yuan in two days thanks to the great help from many kind-hearted people. And, the hospital agreed to perform the surgery for Chris two days later.

Chris is now resting in the hospital with his left arm in plaster.

A Changchun university foreign teacher is receiving treatment after arm surgery. [Photo by Jiang Shengsong/newculturenewspaper]

"No habits of saving money"

Chris’s doctor said that he needs to pay the remainder of the outstanding fees - about 16,700 yuan before leaving hospital. "We need more kind-hearted people to help," Miko said.

"And Chris will get the money back as soon as he can." Chris, who has been in China for the past decade, now holds a teaching position at Changchun University.

In spite of the fact that he has a stable job with a regular income, the English teacher could not afford to pay his medical bills at once.

"Like many expats I happen to know, Chris doesn’t have too much in savings," Mr. Han said.

"He has to pay rent which is more expensive than that of the Chinese."

And, he adds, "what interests him most is to visit many places all over China, which comes at a high cost too."

Indeed, Chris’s dream is to walk through every single corner of China, and he has planned to go to Harbin to see the ice lanterns recently. He also likes his teaching job at school.

"Talking with young Chinese students is another favorable thing," Miko said.

"And Chris is humorous," Miko refers to his Canadian friend who is resting on the ward.

"Did you just say my humerus arm?" asked Chris.