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 did not realize 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.
As Wuhan had been locked down because of the epidemic, 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. The payment was 500 yuan a day. Dalian decided to give it a try.
He soon became a volunteer at Wuhan No. 1 Hospital. He was responsible for taking out trash, mopping the floor, disinfecting(消毒) the hospital, dealing with used protective suits 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.
Dalian was afraid of getting infected at first. "When I entered the wards (病房), I was kind of frozen and felt like I couldn't move," he said. But after seeing more patients get better, his fear gradually went away.
Dalian's story has since gone viral(走红的) online. People were surprised by his experience, but also described him as having "a heart of gold".
