Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A woman stranded for 16 days in an abandoned well in central China said today that she shouted for help every day and began to lose hope, but that she managed to survive on raw corn and rainwater.
Su Qixiu, 48, was gathering herbs when she fell into the four-metre (13ft) well in a village in Henan province on 1 September. Her husband and children searched for her unsuccessfully, but she was finally found on Monday by a passer-by, state media reported.
“I shouted every day in those 16 days. And spoke a lot of nonsense. I was scared and felt hopeless,” said Ms Su, who was speaking slowly and weakly in a telephone interview from her hospital bed.
Ms Su said she had lost more than a quarter of her body weight during her ordeal and now weighed less than 45kg (seven stone).
She said she was walking past a cornfield but could not see the road clearly and fell into the well.
“I ate some corn. It rained and I drank some rain, but not much,” she said.
Ms Su said she did not remember being discovered, only a firefighter pulling her up from the bottom of the well. Her two daughters and one son raced home from Shanghai, where they work, when they heard their mother had gone missing, and were still with her, she said.
Her doctor, Ran Xiansuo, said at first she was unable to speak and had organ failure, but that her condition had stabilised. She should be able to go home in a few days, he said.
AP
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments