Dedicated officer back on duty after injury

After graduating with a major in physical education in 2009, Zhang Chenyang didn't take the same path as many of his classmates and become a PE teacher－instead he decided to chase his dream of becoming a police officer.

He signed up to a recruitment for the Special Weapons and Tactics team of the Public Security Department of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. In January 2010, Zhang officially joined the team and became a SWAT police officer.

Because of his outstanding performance on the job, he was recruited into the special operations detachment just a year later. Now the 36-year-old is the instructor of the fifth brigade of the special operations detachment.

"At that time, all members in the detachment were the best in each detachment. I felt the pressure and worked harder to train," Zhang said.

In a fight to suppress violent terrorists in May 2015, Zhang led a team to reinforce their colleagues. While manning an armored vehicle's turret during a search and observation patrol, an explosive thrown by terrorists landed on the gun platform.

Zhang's quick reaction meant he immediately grasped the explosive to throw it out. However, the moment the explosive was thrown, it went off.

Although his left hand was seriously wounded by the explosion, Zhang endured the pain to make sure that no one else was hurt and then calmly reported through the walkie-talkie that "someone was hurt".

While being transferred to a hospital in Urumqi, capital of the region, he endured excruciating pain but insisted on not using any anesthetic so as not to delay the operation.

When he learned that the doctors planned to amputate his left hand, he pleaded with them weakly, "Don't amputate my hand or fingers, I need them to hold my weapons."

However, after struggling with infection and pain for nearly half a month and undergoing five operations to remove damaged tissue, the doctors had to amputate his left thumb, the knuckles of his left middle finger and index finger and part of the muscle of his left palm.

The restoration of basic hand function is a long and painful process. From 2015 to 2019, Zhang has undergone eight hand reconstruction operations, and insisted on hand rehabilitation exercises every day. With his strong will, he has overcome physical and psychological difficulties step by step.

"In the first two months, I couldn't accept that I had lost my fingers. Although the thumb has been amputated, I have the feeling it is there. Each time I was doing the hand rehabilitation, I needed to go through the pain," he said.

"If I hadn't caught it (the explosive device), if I hadn't taken action to stop it, it would have fallen into the vehicle and threatened the rest of my teammates. It's my job," he said.

After he was discharged from hospital, with the care and encouragement of his family and colleagues, Zhang gradually adjusted his state of mind and began working in a new position.

Kang Jie, 34, Zhang's colleague who has worked with him for 12 years, said he is humorous and their colleagues enjoy chatting with him.

"His spirit of dedication is worth learning from. He is our role model and I think he makes us feel that heroes are around us," Kang said.

Zhang's story is a microcosm of the work dedicated police officers do across the country. The police are always at the forefront of tackling crime, ensuring social stability and safeguarding people's lives. Over the past five years, more than 2,100 police officers and auxiliary officers have died in the line of duty, according to the Ministry of Public Security.