Chen Han, 27, comes from Dalian city of northeast China's Liaoning province. He helped an Italian man suffering from food poisoning during his trip to Krabi, Thailand on New Year's Day. (Photo/Official Weibo of People's Daily Online)

On New Year's Day, an Italian man became suddenly ill while traveling around Krabi, Thailand, and could not seek medical services due to the language barrier. His hotel neighbor, Chen Han, a 27-year-old Chinese man, helped him to see a doctor by translating the symptoms through cartoons. The Italian man expressed deep gratitude to Chen Han after he recovered.

Chen Han, 27, comes from Dalian city of northeast China's Liaoning province.

On the afternoon of Jan. 2, during his holiday in Krabi, Chen saw a foreign man crouched in front of his hotel room, pressing his stomach and grimacing with pain. Chen stepped forward to ask what was wrong in rudimentary English, only to find that the Italian also spoke only basic English.

Chen nevertheless confirmed through pantomime that the man was sick and needed to be sent to the hospital immediately. However, since neither Chen Han nor the Italian man knew the local language, an idea occurred to Chen to describe the man's illness to doctors by drawing cartoons.

Chen Han drew three scenarios to 'translate' the disease of the Italian man to doctors. (Photo/Official Weibo of People's Daily Online)

Chen used pen and paper to draw three scenarios. The first one showed the change of thermometer scale rising to 37.8 degrees Celsius, indicating that the man had a fever. The second one presented a man sitting on the toilet and suffering from diarrhea four times a day. In the last scenario, the man had stomach pain after eating spoiled food. The Italian man, together with Chen, went to a local hospital and was diagnosed with food poisoning after the doctor examined him and analyzed the symptoms portrayed in Chen's cartoon.

Chen Han drew two scenarios to 'translate' the recommendations of the doctor to the Italian man. (Photo/Official Weibo of People's Daily Online)

The doctor wrote a prescription for the Italian man and offered some additional recommendations. Chen drew another picture of two scenarios: the first was to drink plenty of water with salt and sugar, and the second was to not to eat chicken, hamburgers or other fatty foods.

The Italian man thanked Chen very profusely after he recovered. Many doctors at the hospital also spoke highly of Chen's efforts. Some people were curious about why Chen was so good at drawing. "I graduated from the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts with a major in drawing. But I never thought that I could use this skill to directly help people. I was so happy and gained a lot through the journey," said Chen.