(Hong Kong, 21 May 2008) The Li Ka-shing Foundation (LKSF) today announced a third project for victims of the Sichuan earthquake. In collaboration with the China Disabled Persons’ Federation (CDPF), the LKSF will immediately provide free prosthetic services, artificial limbs and wheelchairs for all amputees.
Approximately 240,000 people were injured during the quake according to early estimates, and a number of them suffered crushed limbs. Mr Li Ka-shing, Chairman of the LKSF, hopes that expeditious prosthetic services will help the victims who have lost their upper or/ and lower limbs on their road to rehabilitation.
The LKSF has partnered with the CDPF since the 1980s, with approximately 14.8 million disabled persons in the Mainland having been serviced to date. Among those who have benefited are over one million cataract sufferers who regained their eyesight, and 170,000 amputees who received artificial limbs and rehabilitation services. Under the collaboration between the LKSF and the CDPF, there are currently 180 service sites where over 1,000 professionals have been trained to attach artificial limbs.
In the first project to aid victims of the Sichuan quake, Mr Li made a contribution of RMB30 million from the ‘Just-In-Time Fund’, and the Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa Groups added another HKD5 million on the day following the earthquake. In the second project, the LKSF and the Cheung Kong and Hutchison Groups made a RMB100 million donation to establish an education fund in collaboration with the Ministry of Education