Ming Hongsheng stands beside his minivan, which served as his temporary shelter for two weeks last month, on the outskirts of Wuhan, Hubei province. CHINA DAILY

Beijing visitor who helped build Wuhan hospital had personal reasons for joining effort in outbreak epicenter

A minivan parked 20 meters from a two-story building in a village on the outskirts of Wuhan, Hubei province, served as Ming Hongsheng's temporary shelter for two weeks.

Ming, 42, was one of the builders of Leishenshan Hospital, a makeshift medical facility rapidly built to treat novel coronavirus pneumonia patients as Wuhan fought to control the outbreak.

After construction was completed last month 5, Ming parked his minivan in front of the family home in Liuxian village, in Wuhan's Xinzhou district, to quarantine himself from his relatives for 14 days.

He removed the vehicle's seats, laid down some duvets and turned the van into his accommodation. "The virus is not scary, it is people-to-people contact that is scary. I want to protect my family as much as I can," he said.

Ming was born in the village, but later moved to Beijing to run a small market.

On Jan 20, he drove to Wuhan in his minivan with his wife to celebrate the Chinese New Year with his parents and siblings. As the disease spread, authorities locked down the city on Jan 23, closing all inbound and outbound transportation routes.

Two days later, Wuhan started building Leishenshan Hospital to provide beds for patients with severe symptoms.

Ming works at the construction site of Leishenshan Hospital in Wuhan. CHINA DAILY

Volunteering

On Jan 31, Ming learned from one of his former classmates who works in construction that the hospital builders were recruiting workers. He signed up without hesitation.

Ming's motivation for joining in was personal, and also risky.

Since he was a child he has suffered from cardiac illness and has undergone heart surgery several times.

During the Chinese New Year holiday 10 years ago, he fell ill again and went to a hospital. But it had a shortage of beds and he waited for three days, sleeping in an aisle, before finally being allocated a bed.

Ming still has major heart and lung problems. "Because I had experienced the pain of not being offered a hospital bed I knew how patients felt," Ming said of his offer to volunteer.

Even though his parents strongly objected to his decision to help build Leishenshan Hospital, Ming set off to the construction site on Jan 31.

He had never worked in construction before.

Due to his physical condition, Ming took on less strenuous work such as laying optical cables and wires. His daily routine consisted of rising at 6:30 am, walking 2.5 kilometers from his dormitory to the site, having breakfast, and starting work at 7:30 am.

He and the other builders ate at noon, rested for an hour, then resumed work. At 5 pm they had dinner then worked until 10:30 pm. After finishing work they walked back to the dormitory to rest.

Job done

The construction work was finished on Feb 5, and the hospital was ready to accept patients on Feb 8.

When Ming left Leishenshan Hospital on a company bus with other construction workers, traffic police saluted them and praised them as heroes.

Ming said he felt deeply touched and proud.

"I was extremely happy when I returned home," he said.

"I felt I had created a miracle in my life."

After returning home, Ming put himself in isolation. He asked his family not to touch anything that he had used.

His father helped clean the old toilet located outside the house so Ming could use it. Ming also built a wooden barrier between his van and the house, not only as a physical deterrent, but also a mental reminder to stay away.

Every morning, his family would leave hot water beside the barrier for Ming to wash. At mealtime, they would put the food in disposable containers and place them outside for him to collect. Family members, including his father and older brother, sat on the footsteps of the house and chatted with Ming to keep him company.

On Feb 20, he posted a video of his life in isolation on his social media account with the comment: "The epidemic has isolated people, but it cannot isolate our lives. Be joyful every day, everything is normal".

Ming finished his isolation on Feb 23 and went back indoors. He said he was happy to reunite with his wife and family but he will continue self quarantine until the epidemic is over.

"I will only move when Wuhan announces that the epidemic is resolved," he said, adding he hoped it would end soon so he could return to Beijing.