Just after his second birthday, Huang Zhongzhu was left for dead in a ditch. It was the first of his four close shaves with death.
Zhongzhu had fallen ill with a high fever, and his grandmother had taken him to the village doctor. The family lived in Henan Province, China, the home of the famous Shaolin Temple.
Thinking that he was dead, his father and aunt left his body in a ditch. This custom saved his life.
“Instead of bringing the fever down, the doctor gave me an injection that affected my brain. I became semi-conscious,” recalled Zhongzhu, 44, in Mandarin.
Zhongzhu remembers nothing of the incident – only what his mother told him.
The family panicked and summoned his father, a farmer. Zhongzhu’s aunt and his father carried him to seek medical help.
Over Christmas, Zhongzhu (second from left) and a fellow migrant worker – who also helps peers who have been injured – were treated to meal at the home of celebrity couple Felicia Chin (in stripes) and Jeffrey Xu (third from left). Photos from Chinese-language faith platform, hhm.sg Instagram.
“Half way through, I stopped breathing,” said Zhongzhu. “They put a finger under my nose and there was no breath.”
Thinking that he was dead, his father and aunt left his body in a ditch.
“Our people don’t bury children who die. It’s just how it is,” he said matter-of-factly of the custom in their village.
“When I recovered, my mother told me I was not normal … I lost part of my childhood as a result.”
This custom – and a curious rag-and-bone man, who picked up trash for a living – saved his life.
“He went to see what my father and aunt had thrown away. Then he saw me. He picked me up and put a feather under my nose. The feather moved.”
The shocked man ran after Zhongzhu’s father and aunt and returned the boy to them. His family then took Zhongzhu to the hospital in a taxi. He ended up staying there for three months.
Zhongzhu with his mother (left) and his wife, daughter and son during a visit back to China. The couple now have four children; the youngest is about two years old.
“When I recovered, my mother told me I wasn’t normal. I was always in a mental daze.
“I lost part of my childhood as a result. I remember nothing much of it,” said Zhongzhu who now works as a chef in a well-known dim sum restaurant in Singapore.
Zhongzhu’s second brush with death happened when he was eight. He was electrocuted.
“I was wandering alone in the village and there were several low-hanging live wires. My head hit one of them,” he recalled.
“Somehow, the electricity entered my brain and I became normal again.”
Out of pure reflex, Zhongzhu reached out to grasp the exposed wire with both hands. Electricity rushed through his body.
“It felt like I was being tied up tighter and tighter,” he said.
“The current coiled around my body. But it didn’t hurt. I just felt numb.”
Shortly after his second brush with death, young Zhongzhu, started attending church with his aunt. In his 20s, he was nearly killed by a swordfish in a freak accident.
Then the live wires broke and Zhongzhu fell to the ground. The villagers around him thought he had died.
“No one dared to touch me in case they got electrocuted as well,” he said.
His family never took him to a doctor so he doesn’t know how that electric shock cured his stupor.
When he regained consciousness, Zhongzhu found that only his hands were injured. Till today, the fingers on his left hand are slightly damaged.
Surprisingly, being electrocuted had somehow shocked Zhongzhu out of his long-term mental daze.
“The electricity entered my brain and I became normal again,” he said.
His family never took him to a doctor so he doesn’t know how that electric shock cured his stupor.
Despite being freed from his daze, Zhongzhu struggled to catch up with his classmates at school.
At age 12, he dropped out to work as a miner to help support his family.
“They told us that if we died at sea, our families would get $20,000 in compensation.”
When he was 16, Zhongzhu signed up to be trained as a fisherman.
“The recruiters were offering three times the pay I was drawing. Also, they told us that if we died at sea, our families would get $20,000 in compensation. That was a lot of money in those days,” he said.
To help support his family, Zhongzhu (seated) signed up to be a fisherman even though the job was dangerous. “There’s no use being scared. I just accepted it as my lot in life,” he said.
But Zhongzhu had to cope with extended stays at sea that could stretch up to three years.
He recalled: “I worked 20-hour days. It was very lonely and on special occasions I’d miss home so much that I’d cry.”
In his 20s, Zhongzhu was nearly killed by a swordfish in a freak accident – his third dice with death.
“It was one of our last catches at sea before I could go home to China to rest. The sea was calm and everything was normal.”
“I felt the swordfish touch me. But a hand suddenly pulled it away and threw it back into the sea.”
But just as Zhongzhu was pulling up the net at the front of the vessel, a swordfish jumped out of the water onto the boat.
“The bill of the fish was hard like steel and had barbs running down the sides. We tried to tie it with a rope but the fish lunged at me, aiming straight at my chest,” Zhongzhu recalled.
At every port the fishing boat stopped at, Zhongzhu (second from the left) would look for a church. He was looking to fill an emptiness inside him.
“I felt the swordfish touch me. But then it felt like a hand suddenly pulled it away and threw the fish back into the sea.”
Zhongzhu’s shirt was ripped by the swordfish. Miraculously, he was barely hurt.
Zhongzhu’s fellow fishermen believed a local goddess had saved him.
But Zhongzhu told them Jesus had performed the miracle.
“The bill of the fish was hard like steel and had barbs running down the sides.”
“When you encounter God in such a way, you have to believe that He is real,” said Zhongzhu.
He had first learnt about Christ shortly after his second brush with death.
Despite not understanding much, Zhongzhu had followed his aunt in China to a house church for Wednesday prayer meetings, Friday Bible Study classes, and Sunday services.
At that time, Zhongzhu felt an emptiness inside him that he was hoping to fill.
“I was looking for someone I could totally rely on,” he shared. He was delighted to receive his first Bible.
However, it was only after being nearly killed by the swordfish that Zhongzhu told God that he was sorry: “I only come to You when I’m in need, but forget about you the rest of the time.”
As a fisherman, Zhongzhu had made an effort to find a church in every port he docked in.
“I still felt empty inside. I wanted to find God. So, I went to church whenever I could.
“It didn’t matter that church services were often in a language I couldn’t understand. I still felt peace and joy,” he said.
When the boat docked in Costa Rica after the swordfish incident, Zhongzhu phoned a pastor he had met on a previous visit.
“It didn’t matter that it was often in a language I couldn’t understand. I still felt peace and joy.”
As with their earlier meetups, the pastor (who was originally from Hong Kong) and two of his staff (who were Taiwanese), drove to the port to meet Zhongzhu. The port was a day’s drive from their church.
However, this time, Zhongzhu had a special request: He and four co-workers who had witnessed the miraculous swordfish incident wanted to be baptised.
“The pastor and his staff arrived with in a car with a large trunk to fill with water, so we could all be immersed and baptised,” said Zhongzhu.
Zhongzhu eventually retired from his life at sea and married his sweetheart from Henan.
He came to Singapore to find work, with the hope of earning more money than if he were to return to China to work on his family’s farm.
Zhongzhu didn’t want to worry his wife, so he quit his job as fisherman to work in Singapore, a place they had visited and loved.
Thanks to Zhongzhu’s experience cooking for the ship’s crew at sea, he got a job as a chef in a western restaurant.
Then an accident happened.
“I was emptying the rubbish and there was oil on the floor. I slipped and landed on my back. It hurt a lot but I thought that if I rested, I would feel better,” he said.
“I blamed God. I asked Him, ‘Why me?’”
Rather than call in sick the next day, Zhongzhu returned to the restaurant, still in immense pain.
“They would dock our pay if we missed work,” he explained.
“During lunch break, I was in so much pain that I couldn’t eat. I rested on a sofa but found I couldn’t get up. It felt like needles were piercing my back.”
Zhongzhu later sought medical help. His condition improved but he was left with a limp in his left leg. To make matters worse, the restaurant he worked for closed down, leaving the injured man jobless.
“I was very sad,” admitted Zhongzhu. “I blamed God. I asked Him, ‘Why me?’”
Zhongzhu with his wife and two older children in China.
A church friend helped Zhongzhu to report the work injury. But getting compensation was a long process.
“The company refused to admit that I had gotten hurt at work. For a year, I couldn’t work. I would pray and cry.
“My mother’s health wasn’t good and I had a family in China to support. I didn’t tell my wife because I didn’t want her to worry,” he said.
When all hope seemed lost, Zhongzhu decided to end his life.
He went to a bridge overlooking a busy highway, planning to jump.
“I thought, ‘If the fall doesn’t kill me, then the cars below would run over me.’”
As Zhongzhu was about the take the leap, he heard a voice right next to his ear.
But just as Zhongzhu was about the take the leap, he heard a voice speak right next to his ear.
“The voice said to me, ‘You’ve given me your burden, why do you still take it back? Why are you so unhappy? Your body is my temple and you are My child.’”
Zhongzhu knew instantly it was God speaking right to him.
“From that moment on, I decided I would stop feeling sorry for myself,” said Zhongzhu.
Zhongzhu was later introduced to HealthServe, a non-profit organisation that provides assistance to migrant workers. They gave him shelter and food.
His case with his former company was also eventually settled.
“I received enough compensation to have an operation on my back and send some money home,” he said.
HealthServe also helped Zhongzhu to secure another job – this time as a chef in a well-known dim sum restaurant.
“Now, I can make you all kinds of dim sum!” said Zhongzhu.
On his day off, he volunteers with SG Accident Help Centre, befriending other migrant workers who have been injured, and sharing his journey with them.
Zhongzhu (right) with Eric Lee, director of SG Accident Help Centre, helping guest workers from Bangladesh and India to reduce their stress through fun activities.
Looking back, Zhongzhu has learnt that it is possible to still praise God even amid challenges and difficulties.
“He will let you learn many things from it and you will be able to use your pain to help others.”
Today, Zhongzhu’s mission is to share Jesus’ love with others, wherever God places him.
“I try to invite my colleagues to church. They come but they’re not always interested in God. So, I pray for them. When I pray, it’s God working,” he said.
This is an excerpt of an article that first appeared in Salt&Light.
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