Photos of medical staffers, including two surgeons, collapsed on the floor after a 32-hour operation in Fujian province went viral on Sina Weibo, a Chinese Twitter-like social network tool, and they were praised as “saving lives with lives” by many netizens in China.

Medical staffers rest on the floor of an OR after a 32-hour tumor operation at Fujian Medical University Union Hospital in Fuzhou on June 22. [Photo/cri.cn]

The operation involving three surgeons, six anesthetists, and eight nurses at Fujian Medical University Union Hospital in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province, finally came to an end on June 22 and saved the patient’s life.

One of the three surgeons, Chen Jianping, who was missing in the photos, immediately went on to another operation in Nanping, Fujian province, without taking a long break.

According to the hospital, the long operation was challenging, because the 63-year-old female patient, who suffered from severe cerebral hemorrhage, had more than one tumor in her brain, requiring six major and minor operations in total.

The operation also became the longest one of its kind at Fujian Medical University Union Hospital.