March 20, some family members of injured students wait at the intensive care unit of Taizhou Central Hospital.
"My daughter and three of her classmates were hit by a car. One of them died, and the other two are in the intensive care unit. My daughter has a broken leg," one of the victims' family members, Mr. Zhao, told ThePaper.com on March 20. He found out about the accident when his daughter called him on WeChat around 11 a.m. on March 19, saying she had been hit by a car. He immediately told his daughter to call 120.
The phone call was very noisy, so Mr. Zhao initially thought that his daughter was the only one who had been hit. However, when he arrived at the hospital, he saw several other injured students who had been hit by the same car.
Mr. Zhao's daughter is a freshman in university. When he received her call, he was at his company in Linhai, Taizhou. When he heard the news, he immediately called his relatives and friends and drove to 椒江区. On the way, he received a call from his daughter's class teacher, who told him that his daughter had been sent to Taizhou Central Hospital.
Around 1 p.m., Mr. Zhao saw his daughter at the hospital. Two bones in her lower leg had been broken, and she had surgery the same day. Mr. Zhao said that if there was no inflammation or swelling, she could get a steel plate in half a month.
He feels that his daughter is lucky. "The four of them had just finished a physical education class and were walking on the road together. My daughter was on the far side."
According to the official website, Taizhou Vocational and Technical College was approved in 2001. Taizhou Industrial School and Zhejiang Trade and Economics School were later merged into the college. The college has 12 secondary schools and 12,000 full-time students. The campus where the accident occurred is located on College Road in 椒江区.
Taizhou Central Hospital is more than one kilometer away from the east gate of the college. On the morning of March 20, ThePaper.com met Mr. Li, whose daughter was injured in the accident, at the entrance to the intensive care unit on the second floor of Inpatient Ward A. He said that his daughter is a freshman and is currently in the ICU. There are two other casualties from the accident in the ICU.
Mr. Li is from Taizhou. When he received a call from his daughter's class teacher saying that she had been in an accident, he and his family immediately went to the hospital. After his daughter was sent to the ICU, he stayed at the door all night. At 10 a.m. on March 20, he still had not seen his daughter, but the doctor said she had a concussion. Mr. Li said that there are two other classmates in the intensive care unit with his daughter. While he was waiting, he heard that one of the classmates had woken up. One of her hands was broken, and the other had an IV drip. She asked her family for her phone to check. "I hope my daughter is also lucky."
ThePaper.com called Mr. Li again on the evening of March 20. He said in a low voice that his daughter had a concussion and nerve damage. He hung up the phone abruptly. (All names in this report have been changed at the request of the interviewees)