China Boys: How U.S. Relations With the PRC Began and Grew. A Personal Memoir by Nicholas Platt

Author:Nicholas Platt [Platt, Nicholas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: International Relations, Political Science, Diplomacy
ISBN: 9780984406227
Google: Zo-8KdgXJjcC
Goodreads: 7943183
Publisher: Vellum
Published: 2010-01-15T07:03:14+00:00

Meanwhile the tip of Oliver ’s finger had arrived in another car from the university, where the Chinese had found it jammed in the siren. The doctors were marvelously skilled. They cleaned the tip, cut off the shredded tissue, and made a skin flap. Then they disinfected his hand, cleaned the finger, snipped the shredded skin, trimmed his bone (“gross clicking,” as Oliver described it), fitted the two parts together and sewed them up with sixteen stitches, bandaged him, and gave him antibiotics. Oliver was calmed by the lovely anesthetist who made him feel cozy and relaxed. “I did not even know what she was saying but it was nice stuff––amazing!” he said.

After we returned to the hotel, the anesthetic wore off and Oliver started to hurt badly. We decided then to divide the delegation and send Sheila and Oliver home to Beijing. Just then a knock at our hotel room door announced the arrival of a high-ranking “comfort delegation,” including the head of the Wuhan Branch of the China Travel Service, the head of the Wuhan University Revolutionary Committee, Dr. Chen, our Mr. Chen from the university, and Sitter Rui. Oliver, eased by codeine and a Chinese-made drug called Salidin, propped himself up to receive them.

A long exchange of condolences and pleasantries ensued. I told our visitors that it would be hard to imagine the same quality and quantity of medical care in any other country under these circumstances. I told them that I would feel very bad if they blamed themselves in any way, that it was my responsibility to keep thirteen-year-olds of my own flesh and blood from inserting their fingers into unfamiliar machines, that the Chinese reaction to Ol’s accident was an even better example of the developing relationship between the two countries than the warm welcome we had received at the university. The delegation smiled and departed. We played Hearts and Old Maid, dosed Ol again, ate, and went to bed. What a day!

Our own Wuhan incident proved to be the effective end of our family delegation. Sheila and Oliver went back to steamy Beijing and several painful sessions at the Capital Hospital (the old Peking Union Medical College founded by the Rockefellers). Adam, Sanhu, and I continued the trip, feeling guilty about enjoying ourselves while Oliver was in pain.

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