Around 5:00 a.m., when it was still dark, Qingqing—despite having a fractured left arm still held in place by a steel plate—quietly got out of bed, dressed in her new rose‑red sweater. After enduring the long night until dawn, she stepped out of her room and went from one ward to the next, greeting everyone: “I’m being discharged today—I’m going home!” Her excitement was plain to see.

　　Little did they know that just four months earlier, Qingqing had been in a vegetative state. On the morning of May 25, 2015, while waiting by the roadside near her home in Lishui for the school bus, she was suddenly struck by a truck, fell into an immediate coma, and suffered nonstop bleeding from her external auditory canal and face. Hearing a loud noise, her mother and other family members rushed out of the house to find their daughter lying motionless in a pool of blood. Bystanders remarked, “Nine times out of ten, she won’t make it.” Gazing at her daughter, whose life hung by a thread, the mother’s heart shattered.

　　Qingqing was taken to a local hospital; given the severity of her condition, she was immediately transferred to Nanjing Children’s Hospital, where she was diagnosed with severe traumatic brain injury, subarachnoid hemorrhage, cerebrospinal fluid otorrhea, multiple skull fractures, pulmonary contusion, and a fracture of the left humerus, among other injuries. Despite several days of treatment, Qingqing remained confused. On June 9, hospital specialists recommended transferring her to the China Brain Resuscitation Center at Nanjing Zijin Hospital for awakening therapy.

　　According to the Chinese/Nanjing CNPVS (2011) efficacy scoring system, which assigns a maximum of 20 points, upon admission, Qingqing’s score was 11, indicating a minimally conscious state.

　　Following a wake‑up and rehabilitation plan developed by experts at Nanjing Zijin Hospital—incorporating hyperbaric oxygen therapy, electrical stimulation, and traditional Chinese medicine to invigorate the mind and open the orifices—Qingqing gradually began to respond to simple commands. Overwhelmed with emotion, her mother held up a writing board, prompting Qingqing to recognize characters. Though she could now read, she was still unable to speak. After undergoing speech‑language therapy, Qingqing eventually started to articulate words, albeit one syllable at a time, as if each were forced out of her throat. Her family was overjoyed, seeing hope for the first time.

　　On the day of their discharge, the mother and daughter presented a banner to Dr. Dai Zhongci, the attending physician, and expressed their gratitude to Directors Wang Aiping and Sun Xilin for their meticulous care.

　　Before leaving the hospital room, the thoughtful child said to her mother, who had been tirelessly caring for her: “Mom, you take care of me every day. When I wake up at night, you’re still awake, watching me cry. When I grow up, I’ll repay you handsomely.”

　　Her mother listened, tears streaming down her face. She hugged her daughter tightly, kissing her again and again, and took her little hand, saying, “Qingqing, we can finally go home.”