A YOUNG Chinese circus acrobat who fell from a high wire and broke her back is stranded in Salisbury District Hospital with no idea how she will manage to live in future.

Xu Yan, 22, is paralysed from the waist down and unlikely to walk again.

She cannot speak English and has only her mother and a volunteer helper from the Chinese community in Southampton to support her.

Any chance of financial compensation for her plight is years away and she can only rely on John Tse, of the Southampton Chinese Association, to publicise her plight.

He said: "What is she going to do in the meantime? At the very least, she will need a specially-equipped room to live.

"Her career has been cut wickedly short. She won't be able to live independently. She has lost so many things.

"Before her accident I saw her perform, without realising I would meet her in this way. She could do such fantastic stuff. She could ride a unicycle on a high wire and perform backflips on it.

"Now, she is reduced to a wheelchair, in a foreign land. She and her mother are so lonely over here. Their plight just hooked my heart." Yan, who comes from the province of Jilin, north-east of Beijing, had spent three years touring the UK with the Chinese State Circus - which, coincidentally, appeared in Salisbury at the weekend - when disaster struck.

She was practising her routine with another girl at Paignton, Devon, one morning last August on wires six metres above the ground when she fell. Yan was meant to jump from one wire to another holding an umbrella while two trainers looked on.

They were holding the other end of a safety wire which, she believed, was attached to her belt by a hook. But after she fell, the hook was found to be undone. Quite how it happened has yet to be established.

She was moved from Devon for specialist treatment at the Duke of Cornwall Spinal Treatment Centre at Salisbury District Hospital. "She is expected to be discharged soon," said John. "We don't know what else they can do for her now."

Yan initially contacted a cousin in China after the accident because she did not know how to break the news to her parents.

Her mother, Zhang Mei Lin, flew to England unaware of the extent of her injuries.

She, too, does not speak English. Yan's father cannot join them - the air fare is "like a lifetime's savings," explained John.

It was at the request of Chinese contacts in the west country that John, a history book translator, became involved.

He has been visiting Yan in hospital, translating for her and trying to raise awareness of her situation.

He feels the best thing for Yan would be to stay in England, to receive further therapy and to help with a health and safety investigation into the accident.

Solicitors are investigating taking legal action on her behalf, but it will be two years before final medical reports on her condition are completed and any claim could be started.

Yan and her mother spoke with gratitude of the help they have received from staff at the hospital.

"They arranged for an English teacher to come in so I can learn the language," Yan said.

Mei Lin is staying in accommodation provided by the League of Friends at a reduced rate, and both she and her daughter were given Christmas gifts and cards by Yan's nurses.

"We are extremely grateful to the British people for all their care and concern," the pair said.

But neither will be entitled to state benefits once Yan is discharged, and the Chinese state will not help.

"They face an immediate financial crisis," said John. "The hospital will help Yan find somewhere to stay but cannot foot the bill."

Yan hopes eventually to teach acrobatic skills, and help others who suffer the same type of accident or injury as she has.

But, meanwhile, she and her mother are reliant on the goodwill of others.

  • A trust fund is being set up for Yan.

If you want to support it, please don't send money. Instead, make pledges through the Journal by e-mailing yanfund@salisburyjournal.co.uk or sending your letters to Yanfund, The Editor, Salisbury Journal, 8-12 Rollestone Street, Salisbury, SP1 1DY.