China: Man catches 2-year-old falling from fifth floor window
What's the story
A dramatic video from Tongxiang, in China's Zhejiang province, went viral recently in which a man was seen catching a two-year-old girl who fell from the fifth floor of a tall building. The clip has been shared by Lijian Zhao, spokesman and DDG, Information Department of Foreign Ministry, China. The man in the video, lauded as a hero, was identified as Shen Dong.
Twitter Post
Here's the video shared by Zhao on Twitter
Heroes among us. pic.twitter.com/PumEDocVvC
— Lijian Zhao 赵立坚 (@zlj517) July 22, 2022
Incident
The child fell from a height of 50 feet
Dong was talking over the phone and parking his car across the street when he noticed a toddler dangling from the window of a nearby building. However, within a few seconds, the child accidentally slipped and fell from a height of around 50 feet. Following this, the man immediately ran toward the building to catch and save her.
Rescue operation
Dong dropped his phone to grabbed the child
The video shows the man running as fast as possible to position himself to rescue the kid. In the clip, Dong can be seen throwing away his phone to catch the falling toddler safely with both his hands. Another woman, who was nearby, also came running and assisted Dong to save the child from hitting the ground.
Appreciation
Netizens praised the man for his presence of mind
Zhao shared the video on Twitter with the caption, "Heroes among us." As soon as the video went viral on social media, netizens poured in appreciative messages for the man praising his presence of mind and calling him a real-life hero. A Twitter user wrote, "That guy is hell strong and skillful to catch a toddler from that height! He is a true hero!"
Dong speaks
It was just instinct to reach out to her: Dong
Dong (31) told local newspaper Quinjiang Evening News, "To be honest, I cannot remember the details. I cannot remember if my arms hurt or anything. It was just instinct to reach out to her." Another video went viral last week where a man saved a young girl from colliding with a pole after she lost control of her bicycle.