Gao Shangyuan, a 53-year-old cleaning worker in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei province, volunteered to work in a temporary hospital for 34 days amid the epidemic, recording in a diary his personal experience in combating the novel coronavirus.

Gao Shangyuan (second from left) poses for a photo with medical workers. (File photo)

On Feb. 6, Gao learnt that the Fangcang Hospital, converted from the Hongshan Stadium, in Wuhan needed cleaning workers and volunteered immediately. "I’m really honored to be a volunteer and do my part in the fight against the pandemic," Gao wrote in the diary.

"I would sweat easily wearing the protective clothing and the goggles, combined with my breath, would often blur my eyes," writing about the difficulties encountered in the work. To avoid polluting the environment outside the hospital, Gao would spend a lot of time dealing with the garbage carefully.

After he became more familiar with the work at the hospital, Gao asked the medical workers to help give garbage bags to patients in need. "In this way, we could pick up the bags of rubbish from the patients, which saved some time," Gao said, adding that the patients were considerate and would gladly support the work of the cleaners.

Gao didn’t tell his son before he applied to be part of the work at the hospital. It was on Feb. 9 that his son found out about it, "on that day, my son cried on the other end of the phone because he was worried and said that he also wanted to be a volunteer so that we could support each other," Gao said.

To ease his son’s concerns, Gao promised that he would make video calls every day, as he wrote in the diary. Besides thinking about his son, Gao also wrote in the diary about how much he missed his wife, who died of a car accident in 2009.

On Feb. 20, Gao was rewarded for his efforts in combating the coronavirus. "I just did what I need to do," he said.