Man lauded as hero for saving toddler who fell from 6th storey of a building in China
The video clip showing banker Shen Dong's rescue of the toddler was shared on Twitter by China’s foreign ministry spokesperson and reportedly went viral on Chinese social media.
Shen Dong and his female colleague seen running to the toddler before catching her. (Screengrabs: Twitter/@zlj517)
Talk about fatherly instincts. On Jul 19, a man in Zhejiang Province’s Tongxiang city in China – identified as 31-year-old bank staff Shen Dong – saved a toddler falling from a height.
In a video shared by Zhao Lijian, deputy director of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Information Department, on Twitter, with the caption “Heroes among us”, Shen can be seen running towards the building with a woman while on the phone.
Despite slipping on the ground momentarily, he tossed his mobile phone aside and successfully caught the toddler, who was shown falling from the building’s sixth floor.
The 13-second clip which Zhao posted on Jul 22 garnered over 11,800 likes, with commenters saluting Shen for his heroism or calling him and the unidentified woman “angels”.
Others sought to see the lighter side of things after watching an arguably stressful video, such as one Twitter user who quipped: “Get that man (a National Football League) contract. I know a few teams that need a good punt returner."
According to local media reports, the toddler had fallen from the apartment block’s sixth storey after climbing onto a stool. She landed on a steel terrace on the first storey, where she tumbled off before Shen caught her.
Shen was parking his car when he heard the thump from the first fall and was on the phone with emergency services before the child slid off the roof, prompting him to toss his phone aside to catch her.
“I believe that anyone could have come forward to catch the girl,” Shen told local media. “I was just there at the right time.”
“The girl is called Xinxin. Coincidentally, my daughter is also called Xinxin. Even the characters are the same.”
Thankfully, the child survived the dramatic fall with injuries to her legs and lungs but was otherwise fine. Shen himself didn't get injured in the rescue, which he attributed to "exercising regularly".
The toddler received treatment for her injuries at the Tongxiang Second People's Hospital and was discharged on the same day.
He told Qianjiang Evening News: “It was just instinct to reach out to her. It was lucky I made it in time.”
