Li Wenliang, an eye doctor in Wuhan, China, was among the eight people (all physicians in Wuhan) who warned the public about the novel coronavirus. He passed away on the night of February 6, 2020.
According to a Chinese journal, people had been in critical condition when transferred to Wuhan Central Hospital on the afternoon of February 6.
BBC Chinese reported that the official Chinese media People’s Daily and Global Times, and a more outspoken news outlet The Beijing News all reported the passing away of 34-year-old Dr. Li at 9:30 p.m. February 6. However, within two hours, all these reports were deleted and could not be found online. Chinese media claimed that Dr. Li was still under recovery.
An outpouring of grief and anger appeared on China’s social media.
In what Al Jazeera called a “political resuscitation,” the Chinese authorities gave orders after Dr. Li’s heart had stopped beating to stop the resuscitation only to calm the public’s rage.
Al Jazeera‘s report was further confirmed by the People magazine and a number of online posts that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials in charge of Dr. Li’s treatment refused repeated requests from rescuing physicians to put him on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and did it only when the higher up told them to do so. After Dr. Li’s heart stopped beating and the information was spread out, the CCP organization needed to soothe the public mourn and anger by putting the ECMO on to show they had tried everything possible and also to decide on the timing of the eventual announcement of Dr. Li’s death.
A blogger mourned on Weibo (China’s equivalent of Twitter), “Those who tell the truth are arrested for spreading rumors and those who tell nothing but lies become the leaders.”
1. Excerpt in Chinese:
昨日夜里11点，《人物》记者赶到武汉中心医院后湖院区的住院楼时，李文亮的两位大学同学已经在那里等待了半个小时。他们也是武汉的医生，是受全班同学委托，来这里看他。因为已经过了会客时间，住院楼入口处已经被拦起来，进不去了。
那时刚过零点，院方还在继续着对李文亮的抢救。但有一位楼里的护士，穿得很单薄，独自下到一楼，大哭起来。先是靠着墙，后来又蹲在地上哭。就算是站在十几米外，那哭声都清晰可闻，在深夜安静的医院里回荡。
同学谈到了李文亮的病情。李文亮曾在几天前接受媒体采访，看起来精神状态不错。但实际上，十多天来，李文亮一直都没有脱离过呼吸机。他的同学说，「这本来就是个很不好的预兆。」
昨天下午，李文亮从武汉中心医院南京路院区转到后湖院区，据这位同学说，原因是他已经需要用ECMO（体外肺循环）了，但是中心医院南京路院区没有——他们的所有设备全都被调到了金银潭医院。而后湖院区还有一台，能救他的命。但网上也有另一种说法，说这台呼吸机，也是从另一家医院借的。
他的病情已经严重到了要用体外肺的地步了吗？这位同学说，「实际上，早就该用了。」中心医院的医生吴岩在昨天深夜告诉《人物》，李文亮于昨日下午转院区后，状况很差，「不适合转，风险高。晚上转过来了，不一会就呼吸衰竭气管插管，但是没有救过来，呼吸心跳停了，心外按压三个小时没有生命体征，但是还是上了ECMO，现在不让宣告死亡。」「我尽管知道他大约已经走了，但是我仍然盼望网上的传言是真的，ECMO能够创造奇迹。」
今天凌晨00:43，该医生告诉《人物》。「我学的东西告诉我基本不可能，但是我又总觉得可能有奇迹。」这位医生以自己的医学常识解释，「呼吸心跳停了3小时，正常是可以宣告临床死亡。但是我们搞了一台ECMO，维持循环。」
据财新报道，凌晨2点，抢救还在进行。凌晨3点48分，武汉中心医院官微发出消息：我院眼科医生李文亮，在抗击新型冠状病毒的疫情工作汇总不幸感染，经全力抢救无效，于2020年2月7日凌晨2点58分去世。
Source: People Magazine, February 6, 2020
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/I1J3wCbfbMP7AecP1_Ie2A
2.Source: BBC Chinese, February 6, 2020
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-51403740
3. Al Jazeera, February 6, 2020
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/chinese-doctor-sounded-alarm-wuhan-coronavirus-dies-200207004935274.html