Welcome to today's focus. This is Matt Horn.

It has been more than a month since the devastating earthquake rocked southwest China's Sichuan province, claiming tens of thousands of lives and reducing millions of homes to rubble. Relief work is still underway to rebuild the quake-hit region and get life back to a semblance of normality. Across the disaster-hit areas, rescue teams in green, white and orange still provide hope for victims. In green are the army and police; doctors and nurses wear white; and firemen and rescuers are in orange. In addition many colourful volunteers have taken the initiative to join in this unprecedented nationwide relief effort. It's impossible to name all of these unselfish rescuers - but they share the same title in the hearts of the people - they are all heroes. Today, we will hear stories about some heroes from Guangdong.

Doctors

Guangdong medical team was the first local medical aid to enter the epicenter of Yingxiu County soon after the earthquake. Doctor Dudong is one of the team members. Amid the debris, they have conducted the most difficult and memorable operations in his life-time.

On the afternoon of May 18, 150 hours after the disaster, detectors found a weak life signal 8 meters below a collapsed building. Rescuers carefully dug through a tunnel with bare hands and tools, in an effort to pull the buried woman to safety. However, when Doctor Dudong finally reached the woman after painstakingly creeping inside the dark and narrow tunnel, he saw something horrific:

"After I got to her, I saw a huge crossbeam, under which were her two legs with shoes on. Next to her, lay a dead body. "

The team immediately decided to carry out an amputation. Due to the limited space, rescuers had to remove the corpse and make space for doctors to operate. The dark and horrible stench put Doctor Dudong under huge pressure:

"Suddenly, the operating blade broke. After the first cut, I found the patient was seriously infected with highly contagious gas gangrene. With a damaged blade, I had to use my hands to continue the operation, placing me at great risk of being infected. But at that moment, I had no time to worry. The only thought was finishing the operation as soon as possible. Otherwise, under the debris, both of us were in danger. "

As a surgeon, Doctor Dudong has witnessed many deaths. However, the strong will of the victims to survive deeply impressed him.

"While I was doing the operation, I heard the voice of another victim below the ground. I answered and he told me his name. I asked him to hold on and promised to save him. He assured me that he could hang on for another 24 hours because he believed we would help get him out. "