Widow of whistle-blower doctor who first launched Covid-19 alarm, gives birth to son

The second son of Li Wenliang was born in a hospital in Wuhan. Li Wenliang, was the doctor who in December first launched the alarm on the spread of a new virus in the Chinese metropolis.  The doctor died of the virus at the age of 33 on February 6 last year.”

“My husband, can you see us from heaven?” Fu Xuejie wrote on her WeChat account on Friday morning. “The last gift you gave me was born today – I will work hard to love and protect them.”

Fu Xuejie’s son was born in the early hours of Friday at a hospital in Wuhan – the central Chinese city that was the initial epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, – and she and her baby were healthy, local broadcaster Litchi News reported.

Li, who was an eye doctor in Wuhan, was one of eight people reprimanded by police in January for “spreading rumours” by warning colleagues of a mystery new illness in late December. He contracted the virus and died on February 6, aged 33, survived by his then-pregnant wife Fu and their five-year-old son.

South China Morning Post reports “Seeing this news has brought tears to my eyes,” one commenter wrote. When he grows up, tell him that his father was a hero,” another said.Fu told Litchi News that Li was a very responsible doctor, and a gentle father and husband. After his death, she suffered symptoms including low blood pressure and bleeding, and had to be admitted to hospital. The family hid Li’s death from their young son, still in kindergarten, and told him that his father was just travelling abroad.”