Social worker hopes to publish book of her drawings

Drawing cartoons was how 32-year-old Li Xinxing, who is recovering from novel coronavirus pneumonia, encouraged herself and expressed her gratitude to medical workers when she was in hospital in Wuhan, Hubei province.

A social worker from the city, Li had recorded her daily life by drawing cartoons and sharing her work with friends before she fell ill.

"Life was peaceful till Jan 20 when I started to feel sick at night," she said. "I had a fever and my body temperature rose to 38.5 C the next day."

Li went to the hospital. She took medication for a week but her symptoms remained. "I had shortness of breath back then, with a rough cough and fatigue."

Thankfully, Wuhan Ninth Hospital, a designated epidemic treatment facility, received her on Jan 29, she said. A CT scan showed that her lungs were severely infected. The day after being hospitalized, she was given the nucleic acid test, and two days later it was confirmed she was infected with the novel coronavirus.

"I was filled with terror, worrying that I could't get over the disease. It was stressful at the very beginning," she said.

Li's anxiety was gradually relieved through the good care she received from medical workers and encouragement from other patients.

"The doctors and nurses took very good care of us, wearing those thick protective suits," she said. "I was touched, and I thought maybe I could record these moments with cartoons."

Li was very weak because of the illness. However, she insisted on drawing every single touching moment that she experienced at the hospital.

Her favorite cartoon is the one she drew of her doctor, Chen Baoqing, from Xi'an Fourth Hospital, Shaanxi province, who traveled to Wuhan to join the fight against the epidemic.

In the first week of her hospitalization, Li was cared for by Wuhan medical staff members. Later, 137 medical workers from Shaanxi took over the job of looking after patients.

"Doctor Chen gave me the inspiration and courage to beat the coronavirus," Li said. "He always comforted me and told me it was OK to be afraid, and the most important task was to eat well and sleep to improve the body's resistance to the disease, which made me feel relaxed," she said.

"I wrote 'I will always be a fan of Doctor Chen' on the cartoon, but he joked that I better not, and wished me a healthy life," she said, laughing.

Li said that she later became well-known at the hospital for her cartoons.

"The medical workers gave thumbs-up for my work and encouraged me to continue drawing, even if I'm discharged from the hospital," she said. "I had a group picture with the other patients and medical workers holding my cartoons when I left the hospital in late February."

She said she wants to turn the cartoons she drew during her 23 days in the hospital into a book, and present copies to the medical workers who helped her and her fellow patients.

"I'm thankful to all the medical workers who raced against the clock to help our city, and my compatriots who lent a hand during the epidemic."

Li said she believes that the "devil" coronavirus will be ultimately defeated.