Retired doctor, 88, offers free medical service in her E China neighborhood

Lyu Yun'e, 88, said saving people's lives is the happiest thing to do. She has done that for the last 70 years.

A veteran and doctor, she once treated soldiers in Northwest China who returned from the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-1953). At that time, she worked at a hospital. After retirement in the 1990s, she volunteered to offer medical services in the neighborhood in her community in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian province, free of charge.

Though an elderly person herself, Lyu routinely works at the community's home-based elderly care service center every week, offering medical consulting services. She is in good spirits and has a good memory. "I keep health records of all residents here in my brain," she said.

In one instance, a neighbor, Liao Dafeng, had a cerebral infarction. Lyu came to visit him for three months, offering consultations and giving injections, and even buying drugs for him, until he recovered.

A woman surnamed Xu in the community said she has contacted Lyu every time she or someone in her family felt ill for over 10 years. "Doctor Lyu came to help whenever someone needed it," she said.

To contribute to poverty reduction, she gave financial aid to 12 poor families using her pension. She donated books to the community library. She asked her husband, who graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University, to assist with English learning for children from poor families, free of charge.

Lyu became a member of the Communist Party of China in 1954. "It's great to be able to contribute after retirement. I want to try my best to be a health guardian for the neighborhood," she said.