A Bona Fide Hero: 80-Year-Old Man Saves Boy from Drowning… Then Saves His Son, 30-Years Later!
Most people are lucky if they have the opportunity play the role of hero and save a stranger’s life just once in their lifetime – but being thrust into that role and saving multiple strangers from danger over the years?
That’s pretty rare.
But for Xu Weifang, 80, saving the lives of strangers is becoming a bit of a habit!
A Heroic Act
On the morning of August 3rd, Weifang and his wife were relaxing in their home in Zhutang when they heard shouts of distress coming from outside. They ran towards the cries for help to find an 8-year-old boy drowning in the river behind their home.
While some people may have tried calling for help or tossing a rope out towards the boy, Weifang took a more hands-on approach. Regardless of the long-term injuries that he had recently suffered after falling down a flight of stairs, Weifang immediately sprang to action, jumping into the river to pull the young boy to safety.
Well, perhaps it was more of him carefully lowering himself into the river rather than jumping, as Weifang told Jiangsu Television, “Now that I’m old, I can’t jump anymore.”
Either way, jumping or not, the octogenarian was a hero – and this wasn’t the first time.
Over the many decades that Weifang and his wife have lived near the river, they have collectively saved four other individuals from drowning in that very same place.
However, after visiting the boy in the hospital later that day, Weifang realized that this particular rescue was very different than the rest.
A Family Affair
Upon arriving at the hospital to check on the boy whose life he had just saved, Weifang came face to face with yet another one of his river-rescues – the boy’s father!
“When I was younger, [the boy’s father] was drowning in the river and I jumped to save him,” Weifang shared with Jiangsu Television.
Apparently, history does repeat itself!
But luckily, for this boy’s family, Weifang and his wife continue to act heroically, always willing to put the lives and safety of others before their own.
What do you think of this story? Have you ever saved a stranger’s life or been saved by a stranger? How would you react if you saw someone drowning? What do you think prompts someone to act heroically? Join the conversation below!
