(Minghui.org)
Name: He Xiangu Chinese Name: 贺祥姑 Gender: Female Age: Around 63 City: Changsha Province: Hunan Occupation: Nurse Date of Death: September 23, 2023 Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 16, 2021 Most Recent Place of Detention: Hexie Hospital
A woman in Changsha City, Hunan Province, was tortured to the point of becoming comatose only six weeks into her detention for practicing Falun Gong. She was rushed to the Changsha City First Hospital on July 3, 2021, and transferred to the Hexie Hospital around May 2023. She died there on September 23, 2023. She was around 63.
Ms. He Xianggu, a former nurse, was last arrested on May 16, 2021, and held in the Changsha City Fourth Detention Center. Weeks later, on July 3, her family was notified that she had fallen into a coma and was told to go to the Changsha City First Hospital. When they did, they saw the police in charge of her case. The police told them to take her home.
Because Ms. He was comatose, her family insisted the police agree to get her admitted to the intensive care unit. The police relented. Ms. He was put on a ventilator, but the police still stationed people to monitor her around the clock.
Ms. He’s family was only allowed to visit her once a week for five minutes.
Between September 2021 and February 2022, at the hospital’s request, Ms. He’s family delivered one poached egg a day to her to supplement the hospital food. During those few months, Ms. He regained consciousness. She could open her eyes and move her right hand and foot. The medical personnel even noted changes in her mood, which was a good sign.
The attending physician, Huang Kang, told her family that the plan was to move her from the ICU to a regular ward. The family could then visit her every day and help her improve.
That, however did not happen, because the Changsha City Police Department did not approve the request to move Ms. He to a regular ward or allow her family to visit her every day.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, her family couldn’t visit her for the next few months. The police moved Ms. He to a regular ward in the Hexie Hospital around May 2023 but did not notify her family. She died there on September 23, 2023.
Ms. He’s family members were unable to hear her say even one word since her last arrest on May 16, 2021, because they were either not allowed to visit her or she was unable to talk.
While Ms. He was unable to recount how she was abused, a woman in the same detention center witnessed her being tortured and shared the details of how Ms. He ended up in a vegetative state.
Ms. He’s passing capped decades of suffering for practicing Falun Gong. Prior to her latest arrest, she was given four labor camp terms and held in psychiatric hospitals three times. She wasn’t allowed to work, and her salary and medical insurance were suspended. Her husband was also forced to divorce her.