FWF Chapter 1420 He deserves it
Chapter 1420 He deserves it
Chapter 1420 He deserves it
When Mannstein returned from Stockholm, an expected message arrived.
This was expected because after the publication of his two papers in *Nature Medicine* and *Medicine*, Mannstein's inbox was flooded with emails from spinal cord injury patients all over the world. Yang Ping's inbox was the same. Tang Shun specifically hired two interns whose daily work consisted of reading, classifying, and archiving these emails. After two months, they had processed over three thousand emails from more than fifty countries and regions.
"Professor Yang," Tang Shun once walked into the office with a statistical report, "do you know where the most patients come from?"
"China?"
"No, it's the United States."
Yang Ping looked up, somewhat surprised.
“American patients account for nearly a quarter. Then there are Germany, the UK, Japan, and Australia. China ranks sixth.” Tang Shun turned a page of the report. “Moreover, the emails from American patients are generally the longest. Some have translated their medical records into English and attached all their imaging data. Some have even sent their DNA test reports directly.”
Yang Ping took the report, glanced at it, and placed it on the table.
Did Mainstein know this data?
“I know, he said, ‘Let the patients wait a little longer, we can’t give them false hope.’”
Yang Ping nodded. Mainstein was right. The publication of the paper only proved the method was effective in monkeys; there was still a long way to go from monkeys to humans. Ethical approval, safety verification, dosage exploration, and indication selection—each step required time, and each step carried the possibility of failure. Making any promises to patients now would be irresponsible.
But the patients wouldn't wait. Every day, family members of patients came to the research institute's gate to inquire about news. Some people traveled from far away by train, standing at the gate for a long time, just wanting to know, "When will the experiment that can make paralyzed patients stand up again begin?" Once, Tang Shun went out to buy lunch and saw a middle-aged woman standing at the gate, holding a plastic bag containing a few steamed buns. She stood there for three hours, neither eating nor drinking, nor leaving. Tang Shun went over and asked her who she was looking for. She said, "I'm not looking for anyone, I just want to see. My son has been injured for eight years, and I want to ask about the technology that can make monkeys stand up."
Tang Shun didn't know what to say, and remained silent for a long time before walking up to the middle-aged woman.
Hello, how can I help you?
The middle-aged woman was stunned for a moment, and then tears streamed down her face.
"Professor, I'm not here to cause trouble. I just... I just wanted to come and see. My son has been injured for eight years, and he's only twenty-six. I saw your experiment on the news, where the monkey stood up. I was thinking, is there hope for my son too?"
Tang Shun stared at her for a long time.
“I can’t give you hope, nor can I take it away from you. I can only tell you that we are working hard. Professor Mainstein and his team work more than ten hours a day in the lab. Not for anything else, but so that people like your son can stand up one day. I don’t know when that day will come, but it will come.”
The middle-aged woman wiped away her tears and smiled.
In the afternoon, Yang Ping was in his office reviewing the patient email summaries compiled by Tang Shun when Tang Shun knocked on the door and came in, his expression somewhat different.
"Professor Yang, there is an email that you may need to take a look at in person."
"Another patient?"
"Yes! But this one is a little different." Tang Shun placed the printed email on Yang Ping's desk. "You'll see when you take a look."
The sender was Chen Jianguo, 42 years old, who had suffered a spinal cord injury for eleven years. Yang Ping read it for a while, put down his cup, and stood up after finishing.
Chen Jianguo was a criminal police officer in Nandu Province. Eleven years ago, while pursuing an armed criminal, he was struck by the suspect's car and fell off an under-construction overpass. The criminal died at the scene, but Chen Jianguo was rushed to the hospital with a comminuted fracture of his fifth thoracic vertebra, leaving him completely paralyzed from the chest down. He was thirty-one years old that year, had served in the police force for nine years, and had been awarded two third-class merits and one second-class merit.
After his surgery, he spent two years in a rehabilitation hospital. The two years of rehabilitation training had no effect; he still had no feeling in his legs, was completely incontinent, and needed help even to sit up in bed. The doctor told him, "You may never be able to stand up again." He didn't cry. He asked the doctor, "Can I go back to work?" The doctor shook his head. He was silent for a long time, then said, "Then what can I do?" The doctor said, "Live!"
He chose to live, not just to barely keep breathing, but to live earnestly, with dignity, and without causing trouble for others. He learned to use a wheelchair, and how to move from the bed to the wheelchair and back again.
The year he was injured, they had been married for two years, and their child was only one year old. Many people advised his wife to divorce him—"You're still young, you can't waste your whole life on a useless person." She said, "He's not useless, he's a policeman, he was injured protecting others. If I leave him, what kind of person am I?"
For eleven years, she worked during the day and took care of him at night. She turned him over, washed him, massaged him, and catheterized him. She never complained. Sometimes Chen Jianguo would say to her, "You can leave, I don't blame you." She would say, "If you say that again, I'll throw you off the bed." Then Chen Jianguo would stop talking.
Their child is twelve years old this year and in the first year of junior high school. The child is very sensible and has helped his mother take care of his father since he was little. The first thing he does when he gets home from school is ask, "How was Dad's day?" and the second thing is to do his homework. Chen Jianguo said that his biggest regret in life is not that he can't stand up, but that he didn't take his child out to play. When the child was born, he was in the ICU, covered in tubes, and couldn't even turn his head. Later, when the child could walk and call him "Dad," he could only watch from his wheelchair.
The last paragraph of the email reads:
“Professor Yang, I know many people apply to be volunteers, and I’m no different from anyone else. But I still want to tell you my story, not because I’m more pitiful, but because I want you to know that if one day I can stand up again, the first thing I want to do is take my wife and children out to see the world…”
After reading the email, Yang Ping placed the printed copy on the table, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the ceiling for a long time.
Then he stood up, took the email, and went to the animal experimentation department.
In the animal room, Mainstein was recording M7's behavioral data. M7 was in good form today, having already taken twenty-five steps in a row, setting a new record. Fritz stood beside him, holding a notebook, a barely perceptible smile playing on his lips.
“Mannstein!” Yang Ping stood at the door.
Mannstein turned his head, saw the paper in Yang Ping's hand, and put down the notepad.
"There's an email you should read."
Mainstein took the email and read it from beginning to end. After finishing, he put it on the table, took off his glasses, and rubbed his eyes.
"Professor, I need to see this person."
"Of the more than three thousand emails, why him?"
Mannstein looked at Yang Ping and remained silent for a moment.
"Because he is a policeman, and he was injured while protecting others, his wife has stayed with him for eleven years. If society cannot give this kind of person a chance, then this society is too cold."
Yang Ping nodded.
“It’s not me giving him the chance, it’s you. This is your experiment, and you decide who the volunteers are.”
Mannstein shook his head.
“Professor, you’re mistaken. It’s not ‘my experiment,’ it’s ‘our experiment.’ The theory is yours, and I did the experiment, but you’re the one who opened up this direction. We’ll decide on the volunteers together.”
“Then let’s choose him,” Yang Ping said. “It’s not just his story that’s touching, but also his physical condition. He has been injured for eleven years, has a complete T5 injury, no serious complications, and is in good general condition. From a medical point of view, he meets the inclusion criteria.”
Mannstein looked at Yang Ping and slowly smiled.
"Professor, you're always like this. When others are emotional, you just talk about reason."
"Once the reasoning is explained, it's not too late to get emotional."
“But to be honest, he deserves it.” The next day, the experimental team contacted Chen Jianguo.
The call was made by a Chinese PhD student, but Mannstein sat next to him, listening the entire time. Chen Jianguo's voice came through the speakerphone, carrying the gentle tone typical of people from southern China.
“Mr. Chen, I am the liaison for Professor Mainstein’s team. We would like to invite you to the institute for a comprehensive examination regarding the preliminary assessment of the human trial volunteers.”
"Really?" The other person sounded very excited.
"real."
"When?"
"We will inform you of the specific time next week. We will cover your travel and accommodation expenses."
After a moment of silence, a woman's voice came from the other end of the phone, soft but clear: "Jianguo, what's wrong?" Chen Jianguo said, "Professor Mainstein's team wants me to get checked out." The woman said, "I'll go with you."
Chen Jianguo's voice trembled slightly: "Can I bring one person with me?"
"Of course, is this your wife?"
"Yes!"
"welcome!"
"Thank you! Thank you all."
The phone hangs up.
It rained lightly the day Chen Jianguo arrived.
Tang Shun went to the train station to pick up the person. Mainstein originally wanted to go, but Yang Ping said, "You wait in the lab. The scene of picking him up at the station is too formal and will put pressure on him." Mainstein thought about it and felt that it made sense, so he stayed in the lab.
Tang Shun held up a sign at the exit that read "Chen Jianguo." From the crowd, a woman pushed a wheelchair out through the accessible passage. The woman was around forty years old, with short hair, simply dressed, and a calm expression. Sitting in the wheelchair was a man with very pale skin, the kind of paleness that comes from long periods without sunlight.
Tang Shun walked over, squatted down, and looked at the person in the wheelchair at eye level.
“Mr. Chen? I am Tang Shun. I was sent by Mainstein to pick you up.”
Chen Jianguo extended his hand and shook hands with Tang Shun. His hand was strong, not at all like someone who had been in a wheelchair for eleven years.
"Thank you for your help," he said.
"No trouble at all. Is this your wife?"
The woman smiled and said, "Yes, my surname is Li."
Tang Shun pushed the wheelchair out. Sister Li followed beside her, carrying a large bag. Tang Shun offered to help her carry it, but she said no, it wasn't heavy. But the bag looked to weigh at least ten kilograms.
On the bus, Chen Jianguo gazed at the city scenery outside the window without speaking. Sister Li sat beside him, occasionally adjusting the blanket on his lap. Her movements were natural and gentle, as if she had done it countless times.
Tang Shun looked at this scene in the rearview mirror, and an indescribable emotion welled up in his heart. These two people had been together for at least thirteen years, experiencing everything he couldn't imagine. Sitting here, they were quiet and peaceful, like two stones that had been polished countless times by water, smooth, warm, and not prickly.
Mainstein stood at the entrance of the research institute.
He wasn't using an umbrella; raindrops fell on his gray hair and streamed down his forehead. He stood there, like an old tree, its roots firmly planted in the ground, motionless.
Tang Shun's car stopped, and Mainstein walked over and opened the back door.
Chen Jianguo looked up at the unfamiliar elderly foreigner. Sister Li, standing beside him, spoke first: "Are you Professor Mannstein?"
“I am!” Mannstein said in very clear Chinese. “Welcome!”
Chen Jianguo reached out his hand, and Mannstein grasped it without letting go.
“Mr. Chen, before you decide whether to participate in our research, I would like to tell you three things.”
Chen Jianguo looked at him.
"First, this research has never been done on humans before. I don't know if it will be successful, or if there will be serious side effects. I can't make any promises to you."
Chen Jianguo nodded.
"Secondly, even if you succeed, you will never be able to return to your pre-injury condition. You may be able to stand up, you may be able to walk a few steps, but running, jumping, climbing stairs... you may never be able to do these things again. You need to think this through."
Chen Jianguo nodded again.
“Third,” Mainstein’s voice lowered, “if you decide to participate, you will be one of the most important patients of my life, not because you are the first, but because you deserve it.”
The rain was still falling. The three of them stood in the lobby of the research institute. Sister Li stood behind Chen Jianguo's wheelchair, holding onto the handles with both hands.
Chen Jianguo said, "Professor Mannstein, I have thought about all three things you mentioned. I have been in a wheelchair for eleven years, and I think about it every day: if I had the chance, would I be willing to take the gamble? My answer has never changed."
He paused for a moment and looked up.
"I am willing!"
Sister Li didn't say anything, but looked at her husband with encouraging eyes.
"Let's go, we need to do some checks first."
Upon entering the research institute, Mainstein led Mr. and Mrs. Chen Jianguo on a tour of the laboratories and animal experimentation department. When Chen Jianguo first saw M7, he stopped his wheelchair in front of the cage and stared at it for a long time. M7 also looked at him, tilting its head, its eyes holding that familiar expression to Yang Ping—not fear, not anticipation, but a quiet, composed curiosity.
"Is that the M7?" Chen Jianguo asked.
“Yes,” Mainstein said.
Chen Jianguo reached out and gently touched M7's fingers through the cage. M7 didn't pull away; instead, it grasped his fingers and shook them.
“M7, thank you,” he said. “Thank you for standing up first for those of us who can’t stand up.”