Chinese assistance gives earthquake victim chance to walk again

Editor's note: In April, 28-year-old Ecuadorean Santiago Navarrete had his right leg amputated after being injured in a 7.8-magnitude earthquake. Thanks to Beijing-based international disaster relief NGO Pearl Humanitarian Rescue, he now wears a prosthesis. This is the story of how Navarette lost his leg, but found a new love for a far-flung country.

Had she not been carrying a giant plush panda, Laura Mendez might have gone unnoticed as she walked past the presidential palace of Ecuador in Quito with her son, Santiago Navarrete, and their Colombian friend Nicolay Fonseca.

Fonseca is the Latin America representative for Pearl Humanitarian Rescue, an international disaster relief NGO established in Beijing last year.