[00:00.00]In the meantime, Japan was
[00:02.73]resuming its aggression against China.
[00:05.68]The decade of the 1930’s
[00:07.87]was the era of Fascist aggression
[00:11.26]throughout the world. Bethune’s
[00:14.00]knowledge of the long history
[00:16.51]of western aggression and
[00:17.93]exploitation in China made
[00:20.01]him conclude that his
[00:22.97]services were needed there.
[00:25.15]In January 1938, he sailed
[00:29.75]to Mainland China. He stated
[00:32.70]that he refused to condone
[00:34.78](or support)wars which greedy men
[00:38.28]make against others. He went
[00:40.36]on to say that Spain
[00:42.99]and China respectively were parts
[00:45.61]of the same battle (against Fascism).
[00:47.69]The Japanese had chased the Chinese
[00:51.31]into the northwest part
[00:53.38]of the latter’s country.
[00:56.22]Mao Tsedung met Bethune only once,
[00:59.51]but they remained acquaintances
[01:01.59]by correspondence.Bethune almost
[01:06.73]immediately set out for
[01:08.26]the hazardous surroundings
[01:10.34]of the mountain ranges of Yenan.
[01:13.19]In the company of
[01:15.59]the Eighth Route Army,
[01:17.12]Bethune practiced his profession
[01:19.09]as best as he could.
[01:21.28]There were no mobile units
[01:23.58]and there was a desperate need
[01:25.87]to recruit medical trainees
[01:27.84]and convey his knowledge
[01:30.36]and skills to meet the needs
[01:32.33]of the soldiers. Consequently,
[01:34.73]there was an urgent requirement
[01:38.02]for illustrated medical manuals.
[01:40.53]Both soldiers and peasants
[01:45.13]required a good deal
[01:46.55]of medical attention. Again,
[01:48.96]under very trying conditions,
[01:51.48]and with a lot of nerve,
[01:53.55]determination and courage,Bethune
[01:55.85]and his crew of Chinese assistants
[01:59.25] were eventually able to
[02:01.43]establish and coordinate over
[02:03.62]twenty medical and nursing
[02:05.81]teaching hospitals. Because of
[02:08.98]shortages of personnel and
[02:11.61]other difficulties, Bethune himself
[02:14.23]routinely operated for days
[02:16.53]without reasonable breaks.
[02:19.04]In one period, he worked
[02:21.35]continually for sixty nine hours
[02:23.53]on a total of one hundred
[02:26.04]and fifteen patients. His ability
[02:29.98]to endure such hard conditions
[02:32.17]and retain his sanity
[02:34.69]was little short of a miracle.
[02:37.76]It was under these conditions
[02:40.38]that his own life
[02:42.13]became abruptly doomed.
[02:43.99]In October of 1939,
[02:46.83]possibly suffering from extreme fatigue,
[02:50.34]he accidentally cut his left hand
[02:53.80]with the blade of his scalpel.
[02:56.31]Without proper medical supplies
[02:58.83]and with germs everywhere,
[03:00.91]his hand became infected
[03:02.99]and blood poisoning(a disease
[03:05.51]called septicemia)spread.
[03:08.02]He died on November 12, 1939 |