Both became almost instant celebrities in the aftermath of the earthquake, and the media slapped nicknames on the pair of them, the I.V. Drip Boy and the Crevice Boy, but Li Yang and Liao Bo had precious little to celebrate. They had indeed survived the 8.0 earthquake, but Li lost his cousin and Liao lost his right leg.

Shortly after the earthquake flattened two classroom buildings of Beichuan High School, where the pair were classmates, Li, 16, who had been in a nearby auditorium for an art performance, rushed back and helped remove rubble with his bare hands.

Li Yang holds the IV drip bottle for his classmate Liao Bo. Chen Xie/Xinhua

Rescue efforts continued the next day, and Liao was found, his left leg pinned under a heavy slab of debris. Medical workers inserted an intravenous drip and asked Li to hold the bottle aloft. Shortly after, People's Liberation Army soldiers approached, Li waved, and a photographer snapped the picture that shot the two to fame.

More than 1,000 of the school's pupils and staff died in the earthquake.

Five years later, Li, a member of the Qiang ethnic group, is studying at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and the label of hero that was almost inevitably stuck on him has begun to fade.

In fact Li has done his best to try to scratch that label off, feeling embarrassed by the hero status he is accorded so long after the earthquake, and he says he turns down many media requests for interviews. The media spotlight falls on him when the quake anniversary is marked and it fell on him when he gained admission to university in 2010, but, Li says, he keeps a low profile and just gets on with his studies.

"I'm now really focusing on my studies as I prepare to pursue a master's degree."

He and Liao have not been in contact for some time, he says.

Not long after the quake, Li told China Daily that he wanted to become an entrepreneur. He is now studying administrative management, and has added civil servant to his list of possible career choices.

Shortly after he enrolled for university he became a volunteer, and with other students paid regular visits to "sunshine homes", government-backed mental health rehabilitation centers in Shanghai.

There he recounted to many people his experience in the 2008 quake, and, with other students, provided entertainment to those in need.

"The spirit of volunteerism is well and truly in my blood," he says.

However, now, because of the pressure of university studies, he has put his volunteer activities on hold. But, he says, he has learned a lot from helping others, and it seems that it is only a matter of time before he will be there again with an extended arm.