Sitting together, You and I,
Laughing and talking About the past and the future.
When the wind blew, You shielded me.
When the rain falls, I'll cover you.
After seventeen years, I, I am still myself,
You, you are still my dearest love.

-Lin Mei-yi

During the freshmen orientation at the Tzu Chi College of Nursing in September of last year, students of the radiology department introduced themselves. Each of them cheerfully made a brief statement about his or her background and expectations.

A crippled young man walked up to the stage. Because of his disability, it took him longer than his schoolmates to reach the stage. For the same reason, he would need more help from them in the next two years of school. Thus when he began his introduction, the first three words he uttered were "Sorry" and then "Thank you."

The disabled young man was Wang Chin-lung, an aborigine who won the 1997 China Youth Corps award for his filial piety and optimism.

Seventeen Years of Health

"When I was told that I had become ill with bone cancer, I felt like I was living in a nightmare. The third day after I heard the news, tumors had grown on my knee joints. I couldn't stand straight. When I raised my left foot, my right leg couldn't stand alone and I fell down. I started to cry..."

Contracting bone cancer is a tragic blow to anyone, but especially to a man in the prime of his youth. Four years ago, when then seventeen-year-old Chin-lung was admitted into the children's cancer ward of National Taiwan University Hospital, he faced the horror of having a leg amputated. Like anyone else dealing with such a fate, he raged and cried and refused to talk to anyone. When social workers came to give him help, he just stared blankly at them.

However, the children in the cancer ward cured him of his complaints. An eight-month-old baby lay in the next bed. One day a doctor put a needle into the baby's body to extract bone marrow for a test. Chin-lung saw this and asked what was going on. He was told the baby had contracted blood cancer.

Suddenly Chin-lung felt grateful because he had enjoyed seventeen years of health while others had been born with disease. He felt that compared with them, his own life was worth living. From that day on, he resumed his open-minded optimism. He accepted the necessity of amputating his leg and receiving chemotherapy. He calmly faced the concern of his close friends and relatives.

His Mother's Pride and Joy

Up until he was seventeen years of age, Chin-lung's favorite sport was basketball. He frequently got injured because he played too hard. When he was in his second year of high school, his right thigh often felt sore. He didn't think too much about it because he thought it was a common athletic injury.

One day his mother received a phone call from a classmate saying that Chin-lung had been injured and could not walk home. This had happened so often that she thought nothing of it. She took him to have traditional Chinese pressure massage. It did not heal him, however, so she took him to a hospital to get an X-ray. Meanwhile Chin-lung grew thinner and thinner.

One day, Chin-lung said to his mother that he couldn't sleep at night because of the pain in his thigh. She took him to Tzu Chi Hospital for an examination. While waiting for the test results, the orthopedist took his mother and sister aside for a quiet talk. Chin-lung sensed that it must be bad news. He heard the orthopedist mention the name of his disease in English, which he could not understand, but he guessed it was bone cancer.

"Please don't worry, Mother," Chin-lung said to his mother in a choked voice. "You still have two daughters who will take care of you. I'm afraid I'm not going to make it. Please take me home. I don't think I can be cured."

Chin-lung's mother relived her past heartache. Chin-lung's father was killed in an accident when Chin-lung was twelve. In order to support the family, his mother had to take odd jobs here and there, so she had to leave her son under the care of her sister. It was not until Chin-lung was in high school that mother and son could be reunited.

When they met again, it was in a different setting. His mother was working in a marble factory at the time. Chin-lung came to work at the factory in the evenings and on weekends. Even now, when he goes home on holidays, he always helps with family chores. His mother proudly says, "Chin-lung does chores better than most girls."

As a child, Chin-lung was very active and clear-minded. He said gratefully that although his family lived on a low income, the atmosphere had always been happy and harmonious. "Chin-lung and his mother depend on each other. One can't do without the other." Such was the impression of his classmates after a visit to their home.

Colorful Life in the Hospital

The orthopedist in Tzu Chi Hospital decided that Chin-lung's right leg had to be amputated, leaving his mother with a sunken heart. "I have only one son," she cried. "How can his leg be amputated?" She did not want to give up hope, so she took him to National Taiwan University Hospital. But there they got the same diagnosis: Chin-lung's leg had to be removed.

His family could not afford the expenses of an operation and chemotherapy. National health insurance had not yet been established at that time. Fortunately, the faculty and students of Suwei High School raised money to support him. His principal, teachers and classmates even traveled all the way from Hualien to give him encouragement.

"The amputation was my own decision. That was the only way to cure my disease once and for all." After two thirds of his right leg had been removed, Chin-lung was still open and happy. In order to destroy all the cancer cells, he still had to endure chemotherapy. However, now he only has to go back to the hospital every six months for checkups. He fully appreciates his return to a normal life.

"During my stay in Tzu Chi Hospital, life was quite colorful. It was the best time in my life." Chin-lung recalls that the best part of the time when he was receiving chemotherapy in Tzu Chi Hospital was meeting Sister Ming-yu, a hospital volunteer. Sister Ming-yu gave him the chance to assist other patients. "She made me feel that I was still useful." He also became good friends with Hsiao-hua, who had lost both legs in a car accident. They encouraged each other to continue their studies in school.

To Chin-lung, Sister Ming-yu was a friend as well as a teacher. He could talk and laugh with her. He could learn how to help other patients from her. When he felt low, he could ask her to help him solve his emotional problems.

Brave Fight for Life

After he passed the entrance examination to the Tzu Chi Junior College of Nursing, Chin-lung began to doubt whether the department of radiology was for him. Before he enrolled, Sister Ming-yu phoned his counselor, Chiu Shu-chun, and briefed her on Chin-lung's background. "I was very touched when I heard his story," said Ms. Chiu. "He bravely faced such great odds. I looked forward to meeting him."

Later on, Ms. Chiu found out that the good-looking Chin-lung was not only a brave survivor, but also an optimistic and caring young man. He frequently shared his experiences with his schoolmates. From his experience, his schoolmates gained the courage to face their own problems.

Chang Fu-mei, president of the nursing college, became impressed by Chin-lung during a seminar for aborigines. In the seminar, there was one aboriginal student who didn't know how to communicate with others and refused to talk. Under Chin-lung's care and guidance, he finally began to talk. Everybody praised Chin-lung for helping the student to open up.

Chin-lung's open-mindedness and filial piety are affirmed by all his classmates. "Maybe it was because he thought about so much when he was ill that he became so much more mature than the rest of us. He always deals with people with a smile. That is what we should learn from him."

When he won the award from the China Youth Corps, all his classmates were happy for him, but said they cared more about their friendship with him than his winning. "He was awarded mainly for his filial piety and diligence, but I feel that his constant sense of gratitude is even more commendable." College president Chang hoped that Chin-lung's example would encourage the aspirations of his aboriginal schoolmates.

More Helpful Than Optimistic

Ever since he entered high school, people would ask him why he was so optimistic. He said he didn't know. Perhaps it was part of his personality.