T On Feb 12, Dalian (not his real name) was taking a train to Changsha, Hunan, for a business trip. While on the train, he went into a carriage (车厢) to have lunch and chose to remain in the carriage. He didn't know that the carriage was only for people heading to Wuhan.
Several hours later, when the train arrived in Wuhan, Dalian was asked to get off, as he was in the special carriage. Although he was surprised, he didn't want to cause trouble and got off the carriage with just a single bag.
Because of the epidemic, Wuhan had been locked down. So Dalian couldn't find a hotel to stay in. Feeling at a loss, he saw a notice online looking for volunteers to work in hospitals. Dalian decided to give it a try.
He soon became a volunteer in Wuhan No.1 Hospital. He was responsible for (对……负责) taking out rubbish, sweeping the floor, disinfecting (消毒) the hospital, dealing with used protective suits (防护服) and bringing meals to patients.
The young man, reportedly from northeast China, had to work 12 hours every day, changing his protective suit three times a day. While working, he couldn't drink anything or go to the bathroom. He also had to have close contact with infected patients, which is risky (冒风险的).
Dalian was afraid of getting infected at first. "When I entered the wards (病房), I was kind of frozen (僵硬的) and felt like I couldn't move," he said. But after he saw more patients get better, his fear gradually went away.
Dalian's story has gone viral (走红的) online. People were surprised by his experience, and described him as having "a heart of gold".
