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Apr 23, 2012
History

CPD – Cable Propelled Doctor

Post by nickchu

Dr. Deng has spent the last 28 years travelling to villages via a death-defying rope journey to treat his patients. Image by mzb.com.cn.

On Friday last week, we brought you the news story that featured how a simple cable span was being use to ferry children across a gorge in China’s Guizhou province. Today, we’ve come across another incredible and heart-warming amazing story in China, but this time involving a selfless doctor named Dr. Deng.

Deng is a village doctor and most of his patients are separated from the main city by a river. In order to gain access to the village, he has to make use of a rudimentary cableway.  Despite the dangers involved and earning only 200 dollars a month, Dr. Deng has unceasingly made this treacherous trip each month for the past 28 years. It takes him over a week to fully check up on all the children in the village.

What’s more incredible is that, since there is no braking mechanism built into the pulley system, whenever he wants to slow down, he would rely on his grip strength to control his speed. He mentions that his hands would routinely get cut by the aging cable.

Dr. Deng hopes that a bridge will be built soon in the future so that residents can have quicker access to medical services. For the full story, click here for more photos and/or click here for the video (in Chinese).

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2 Comments

  • Annex says:

    That’s insane. I’d imagine that’s how cable was first used back 1000 years ago… yet here we are in the 21st century.

    • Nick Chu says:

      Yeah, cable was initially used as simple means for river crossings and gorge crossings throughout the world.

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