Associated Press
June 18, 2006

The operation Sunday might enable Fu Xiancai to use a wheelchair, although doctors say he will not walk again, his son said

Beijing: A land rights activist who was paralyzed in an assault by unidentified assailants after a police interrogation in central China will undergo surgery Sunday, his son said. Fu Xiancai’s operation at the No. 1 People’s Hospital in Hubei province’s Yichang city was scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. local time (0630 GMT), his son Fu Bing, 23, told The Associated Press. Contacted by mobile phone Sunday, Fu said his 47-year-old father, paralyzed from the neck down, has been having difficulty speaking and was resting ahead of the operation. "Right now, the main focus is for my father to get through today’s surgery," he said. The operation might enable Fu to use a wheelchair, although doctors say he will not walk again, his son said Saturday.