Tibetan doctor Losang Cering was awarded a "Tibet Youth May 4 Medal", one of the highest honors for young people, on Wednesday for his bravery in the March 14 riots in Lhasa.

Losang Cering, a surgeon with the Tibet People's Hospital, was wounded while trying to protect a man of Han nationality and his son.

On March 14, Losang Cering went out with nurse Cejig to rescue the injured, when he saw Wu Guanglin holding his six-year-old son in front of a blazing house crying for help. The boy had been trampled by rioters and suffocated.

On the way back to hospital, however, the ambulance was intercepted by a dozen people wielding knives and clubs or holding bricks, who asked for the Han injured.

"He put his safety helmet on my head and held my boy to his chest," Wu told China Central Television (CCTV).

"The clubs and stones fell on his head, and blood gushed out. He told me to watch out and used his body to protect my son. My boy was not hurt, but he fainted," Wu said.

The ambulance eventually broke away from the mob, but Losang Cering's cheekbone was broken and he suffered cerebral concussion.

According to Luo Yigang, Losang Cering's doctor, he had seven stitches on his face and his recovery would take three months.

Many people had visited him after hearing of his heroism.

"I just did my job as a doctor," said Losang Cering.

The deadly riot, which left 19 dead and 623 injured, nonetheless saw many other stories of heroism.

Shopkeeper Feng Bixia had her left ear seriously wounded when she ventured out to protect two Tibetan children.

Zhu Yifeng, a 20-year-old China Mobile worker, said he was grateful to a "tall blonde" foreigner who saved him from a group of rioters.

(Xinhua News Agency March 27, 2008)