Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
Video Credit: AsiaWire
This is the hero 14-year-old boy who agreed to be sent headfirst down a narrow 100-foot well six times to rescue a young girl trapped underground and dying from a lack of oxygen.
The tot, three, accidentally fell into the concrete borehole in Xun County, which is in Hebi in Central China’s Henan Province, while walking with her father, Mr Zhao, on 30th November.
She remained trapped about halfway down, with one hand above her and the other below her, according to rescuers who lowered an oxygen tube down the well to prevent her from suffocating to death.
Footage shows her desperate father kneeling over the well and begging to be sent down himself as rescuers tell him they cannot reach his daughter due to the narrow opening measuring just 8 inches in diameter.
Wang Qingjun, a local volunteer who was sent to assist in the rescue operation, then suggested his own 14-year-old son, Wang Minran, would be small but strong enough to carry out the urgent rescue.
According to the fire service, Minran and his parents all agreed to let the schoolboy take the risk, but the authorities declined on the grounds that he was still a minor.
However, as the minutes ticked by and Mr Zhao’s daughter’s cries grew ever fainter, the rescuers agreed to give Minran some basic training before sending him down head first.
The authorities said it took six attempts and repeated work to dig up the concrete and earth around the well before Minran was finally able to reach the tot and secure a rescue harness under her arms.
Minran was pulled back to the surface, and the tot followed shortly after.
She was taken to hospital and was not in any life-threatening condition thanks to the teenager’s heroics.
Minran’s mum recalled: “We were at home when [my husband] called saying there was a girl stuck halfway down a well.
“The rescuers couldn’t reach her, but he thought maybe our son could.”
Minran said: “The fourth time I went down the well, I was right next to the girl but needed to go back up to adjust my oxygen supply.
“The girl said: ‘Big brother, don’t leave me.’
‘I told her to be brave, and that I’d be back for her.”
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