The little girl was seen sinking to the bottom of the river at the Xiaoqikong Scenic Area in China’s southwestern province of of Guizhou, on October 26, when the heroic bystander jumped in to save her
China: Elderly man jumps in river to save young girl from drowning
This is the dramatic moment a heroic bystander saves a little girl from drowning as he jumps in right after her and pulls her out of the river.
The incident took place at Xiaoqikong Scenic Area in Libo County, in the Chinese province of Guizhou, on Saturday, October 26. Video footage filmed by panicked witnesses shows the girl quickly sinking to the bottom as she accidentally fell from a nearby bridge in the river.
But a man who saw she was drowning swims after her and pulls her to the surface. The little girl is seen gasping for air as he carries her to a tree stump in the middle of the river that they hold onto while people on shore toss them a lifeline to help bring them to land.
According to scenic area staff, the girl was unharmed. The man jumped in after her immediately after she fell without even taking off his glasses, which he lost in the water during the rescue. His identity is currently unknown as he reportedly left quietly the girl’s family thanked him for his bravery.
The video was posted on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. One user called ‘Fireworks’ commented: “The water is very deep.” Then user ‘Happiness’ commented: “Thumbs up to this man who saved lives.” And ‘It’s Okawa’ commented: “If it weren’t for this tree…”
It comes after an incident earlier this week, where a woman who went hiking was left upside down for seven hours after falling into a crevice between two giant rocks. Matilda Campbell from Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia, was bushwalking in the Hunter Valley when her mobile phone fell between a narrow gap between the rocks. The 23-year-old then attempted to retrieve it, but fell head first and quickly realised she was trapped after being unable to wriggle her way out.
Her pals spent around an hour trying to pull her out but were forced to call for help when their attempts also proved unsuccessful. NSW Ambulance Specialist Rescue Paramedic Peter Watts assembled a team to build a hardwood frame around the area before they began.
Ms Campbell was pictured with her feet peeping from the tiny hole as rescuers tried to navigate through the area. She said: “The graze on my side was starting to hurt… and there was sticks in my hair, there was dirt everywhere, I could see spiders in the distance”, she said. “It was very intense not being able to do anything with my body and realising I am truly, truly stuck.”