Boy injured with air pump improves

Du Chuanwang, a 13-year-old boy from Xiajin county, Shandong province, who was seriously injured in a prank with an air pump, is getting better.

Du was transferred from the intensive care unit to a single ward on Friday to allow his family better access to him and because his condition had improved.

"The ward is equipped with a monitor, an infusion pump and equipment to sterilize the air," Shen Li, co-founder of the Angel Mom foundation said at a news conference on Saturday.

The foundation is helping the boy and organized his transfer to a Beijing hospital.

But Du is still battling horrific injuries, with infections caused by dying tissue still developing on his face and nose.

"The infections are on the patient's face, mouth and alimentary tract. … His heart, lungs, liver and kidneys all have problems at different levels," Shen said.

Du Shehou, the boy's father, told China Daily on Sunday that the infections were continuing to develop.

"It's worse than when he was hospitalized in Xiajin," Du Shehou said.

Shen said the hospital held a meeting on Friday to discuss Du's condition and decided the treatment should focus on cleaning and controlling infections and protecting the internal organs.

Li Yuan, also from Angel Mom, said Bayi Children's Hospital has agreed to update the foundation twice a day on Du's condition and allow them to release the information to the media.

Zhang Wenzhe, a public relations staff member of the hospital, declined to confirm this arrangement.

On Sunday Angel Mom posted a message online stating that the hospital tried to feed Du through a tube. His nasal bone, palate and part of his tongue are all infected.

Angel Mom has disclosed an itemized list of the more than 650,000 yuan ($102,000) of donations it has received for the boy.

The Xiajin people's procuratorate, the county's prosecuting authority, approved on Thursday the arrest of the two men alleged to have hurt Du, said Shi Chuanbin, a publicity official of Xiajin police.

Shi said the suspects are a man named Zhao, born in 1992, and a man name Chen, born in 1985.

The men, who were Du's co-workers in a garage, are alleged to have injured the boy with an air pump.

"According to the suspects' confession, the reason they did this was just because they wanted to play a prank on Du," said Shi. "The air pump was not inserted into Du's body."

Shi said the case is under investigation and the police will possibly talk to the boy to get his side of the story when his condition improves.

wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn