Work helps cancer survivor remain healthy

Yuan Chao, 54, is so busy with post-quake reconstruction in his home village of Datong in Lushan county, Sichuan province, that he often forgets he is recovering from esophageal cancer.

Yuan became Party chief of Datong in 2007. A year later, a magnitude-8.0 earthquake struck Wenchuan county, Sichuan, leaving 170 of the 576 households in the mountainous village threatened by landslides.

Yuan encouraged the families to move down the mountain and build new houses. In 2011, he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and had an operation in Chengdu, Sichuan.