The Story Behind an Unusual Statue

In the lawn of Mindray HQ lies an unusual sculpture: a person wrapped in protective clothing carries a newly assembled ventilator and takes a steady step forward.

Let’s take a journey back to February 2020 when COVID-19 broke out in Wuhan. In order to prevent the spread of the epidemic and treat severely infected patients in a timely manner, the makeshift Huoshenshan and Leishenshan Hospitals rose straight from the ground within two weeks. As the main medical device supplier to hospitals fighting the epidemic, Mindray was required to make full use of every minute to deliver them to the two hospitals. The last mile had never been more arduous.

"We're just ordinary people, but we will do what we can to play our own part. " Looking back on those days, Mindray’s service engineers made comments such as, "We did what we had to do," "At that time, we only thought about how to deliver the medical devices on time," "It's my duty to guarantee the logistics works when other people are busy delivering medical device installation projects." In their eyes, it was just another challenging service delivery project that they finished together.

Fang Mi

Customer Service Manager,
Mindray Wuhan Branch

It was 4:30 a.m., and the faintest glimmer of light was appearing in the sky. Fang Mi, service manager of Mindray's Wuhan Branch, was responsible for monitoring the installation progress at Huoshenshan Hospital. He was just about to take a nap after having stayed up for 72 hours, when the sudden ringing of his mobile phone broke the night's silence. It was a call from the device preparation team at Huoshenshan Hospital: "By 8 a.m., all medical devices need to be properly installed in the two ward zones with the best comprehensive progress, ready for inspection and acceptance. "

"Three hours," "more than a hundred devices," "no manpower" – these words circled in Mr. Fang's mind. After days of tiredness he could barely move at all, he felt just like a cicada chrysalis wrapped in silk thread. "We can't spare any time to do this, otherwise all our previous efforts would come to nothing." Taking a deep breath, Mr. Fang quickly stood up to wake up his colleagues who had only just started resting, and then dialed the numbers of the truck and forklift drivers. With the manpower in place, he declared that the task would be carried out immediately.

However, an unexpected rain meant they had to move excruciatingly slowly along the muddy path. Then, all of a sudden, the trucks loaded with devices stuck fast in the mud and couldn't get out. Mr. Fang promptly decided to transport over 100 devices to the hospital wards by hand with his colleagues.

At 4:30 a.m., the operation began. Apart from the immense psychological stress, physical exhaustion was also a stumbling block to their actions. They waded along the muddy dirt road soaked up to their calves, with the devices on their shoulders. A trek of 800 meters seemed even farther as they had to stop every few steps to catch their breath. When all the devices were delivered to designated wards just after 8:00 a.m., Mr. Fang could finally let out a sigh of relief. The head of the hospital devices preparation team was deeply moved, saying "Mindray's engineers are truly amazing, their commitment went beyond my wildest dreams. "

It's said that "A person who has never seen the night at 4 a.m. is not qualified to talk about life." It was a great honor that the Mindray staff who worked at the forefront have seen it more than once. "I am very grateful to those who have worked side by side with me. Thanks to them, the installations in Huoshenshan and Leishenshan Hospitals were carried out successfully. " As the leader of the Wuhan customer service team, Mr. Fang was very proud of his team.

Xu Xiaocao

Key Account Executive,
Mindray Wuhan Branch

The call came as expected on the first day of the lunar new year, saying that a delivery team for Huoshenshan and Leishenshan Hospital projects should be put together in no time. As quickly as if he had prepared in advance, Mr. Xu picked up the phone again after making some arrangements with his family. Due to the lockdown, he had to make several phone calls to get a pass and drove all the way back to Wuhan. He finally reached Wuhan late on the second day of the lunar new year and immediately joined the project team the following day.

As experienced as he was, it was still a new project for Mr. Xu in such special circumstances. Mr. Xu felt untold pressure, as the team was fully responsible for the delivery of 1,800 medical devices to the two hospitals, and a lot of things remained to be sorted out, such as personnel arrangement, safety precautions, the requirements of the hospitals devices groups and nursing groups, the device arrival time, etc.

"You're from Mindray, right? Can you help me? " Requests like this were very common on the site. There were so many people hurrying to and from, so many devices waiting to be put into place and Mr. Xu was busy making phone calls. The hospital staff came to know that when they encountered problems, they could just turn to the men in red jackets. They said, "You guys are reliable. When there are problems, we know we can count on the 'men in red jackets'. "

Mr. Xu felt flattered. "Sure, we've been staying up all night, working in the rain, only eating instant noodles and sleeping in the car, but it's only been a few days for us. We can't even imagine what challenges you guys will face for a long time to come. We can only rest easy once we've delivered these devices – your weapons in this fight – to your hands safely. "

Zhao Qinwei

Former Head of Service Channel Management Department

"Please be assured that you are in charge of delivery and I will cover the logistics! " Zhao Qinwei said earnestly.

During the project, Mr. Zhao, the service channel supervisor, was responsible for arranging accommodation and meals for all the project staff. Normally, this was a piece of cake for Mr. Zhao, who was known as the "living map of Wuhan". However, the city of Wuhan was closed three days ago and all the hotels, restaurants and transport were shut down and the city was put on hold.

In order to find a hotel that could accept all our engineers and guarantee their safety, MR. Zhao, despite the traffic restrictions on private cars, spent two days checking all the accommodation apps, making dozens of phone calls, walking dozens of kilometers back and forth, and even being prepared to bunk down in the branch office. Finally, Mr. Zhao found a place suitable for people who needed to stay. Since then, even though they still needed to move from place to place due to the epidemic control, they did not have to lie on the ground or sleep in the car anymore.

At the same time, it became increasingly important to ensure that everyone on the project was provided with food and drink. Having instant noodles and dry food every day was not a permanent option. Mr. Zhao contacted hotel restaurant, construction site canteen and restaurant owner even not yet open. At last, he managed to reserve box lunches for all the frontline staff.

While ensuring logistics, Mr. Zhao was also acting as a "frontline correspondent". In between his busy schedules, he walked dozens of kilometers, moving around the unloading base, loading base, hospital warehouse, wards and other places, recording every bit of the scene, so that people can see, remember and feel the power of the Mindray team. A team in which each person does his or her part prevails.

In order to commemorate this unforgettable journey, Mindray set up the sculpture that you see at the beginning of this story. With this sculpture, we would like to pay tribute to all Mindray people who have fought relentlessly in the fight against the pandemic and forged ahead in difficult times.