Xiaoquan and Xiaoxia were a loving couple, originally separated by death. Chief reporter Tianyi Zhao took photos of the rescue scene. The rescued woman, holding tightly to her savior's hand, didn't know what to say, and could only cry continuously.
In the dark night, with the cold river swallowing them up in an instant, he grabbed his wife's clothes and pushed her upwards with all his might. It was this one push that allowed his wife to grab onto the ice surface.
On the evening of December 15th, a couple from Tieling disappeared into the icy river. At the critical moment between life and death, the husband gave the desire for life to his wife.
The cries for help from a woman on the 80-meter-wide ice surface of the Chai River in the eastern part of Tieling City were faintly heard at around 6 p.m. on the 15th. Mr. Li, who was exercising on the river embankment, immediately called the emergency number upon hearing the continuous cries for help.
After the Tieling County Fire Brigade arrived at the scene, they found the drowning individuals about 60 meters away from the shore. Corporal Wang Shiwei tied a rescue rope, put on a life jacket, and wore a life ring around his waist before walking towards the center of the icy river with a horizontal bar ladder.
After walking for 30 meters, the sound of "cracking" came from under the ice. Seeing that the ice was about to break, Wang Shiwei immediately unfolded the horizontal bar ladder, laid his body on it, and crawled forward on the ice surface, 10 meters, 20 meters, 30 meters... getting closer to the woman, the sound of the ice breaking became increasingly clear.
Seeing someone coming, the woman shouted, "You must save me, I still have a 16-year-old daughter to raise." Wang Shiwei consoled the woman, "For your daughter, you must hold on. You must cooperate with me."
As Wang Shiwei approached the woman, he grabbed her clothes with one effort, "splash," the ice beneath Wang Shiwei collapsed, and both he and the woman fell into the water. Wang Shiwei tightly held onto the woman's clothes, and with the buoyancy of the life ring and the floating life jacket, they floated on the water surface.
At this moment, the second rescuer, Deputy Company Commander Ning Ning, carrying a hook ladder also crawled over. He immediately handed one end of the hook ladder to Wang Shiwei, who was holding the drowning woman while Ning Ning pulled them towards the ice surface. In an instant, the ice beneath Ning Ning couldn't bear the weight and completely cracked, causing Ning Ning to fall into the icy river as well.
With all three falling into the water, Wang Shiwei swallowed two mouthfuls of water while holding the woman. With the buoyancy of the life ring, Wang Shiwei once again pushed the woman out of the water and onto the ice surface.
The woman had been in the water for a long time and was almost unconscious. To stabilize her, Wang Shiwei leaned back using the buoyancy of the life ring, his legs clamping around Ning Ning's waist. The two used their bodies to build a lifeboat, placing the woman on Wang Shiwei's chest and abdomen, then informed the comrades on the shore to pull the rescue rope. Under the pulling of the comrades, the three finally reached the riverbank. The entire rescue operation took 20 minutes.
Wife: Husband gave me a push
In the morning of yesterday, Xiao Xia, who was saved from the icy river by the firefighters, lay on her family's kang bed, immersed in the pain of losing a loved one. Upon seeing her saviors Wang Shiwei and Ning Ning come to visit her, she grabbed their hands and tears silently streamed down her face.
Xiao Xia's home is located in the village along the Chai River, separated by the only Chai River within Tieling City. On the day of the incident at 9 a.m., her father-in-law went to the city to get dentures. By 5 p.m., Xiao Xia had finished work, but her father-in-law hadn't returned yet. "It was already very dark outside, and the roads were slippery. My husband Xioquan and I were worried about the elder's safety, so we decided to go to the dental clinic in the city to look for him," Xiao Xia said.
To find the elder quickly, the couple planned to cross the frozen surface of the Chai River. "Every year at this time, the river surface is basically frozen solid, especially with the recent drop in temperature," Xiao Xia said, not realizing that the reservoir was releasing water and the river surface wasn't fully frozen.
After walking about 20 meters on the ice, they heard "cracking" sounds from underneath their feet. "Don't walk anymore, it's dangerous," Xiao Xia said. Just as the couple was planning to turn back, suddenly, Xiaoquan fell into an ice hole. "I tried to pull him, but I fell in right after," Xiao Xia said. Neither she nor her husband knew how to swim. After her husband fell into the ice hole, he was clinging to the edge of the ice, while she kept flailing after falling in.
Seeing her wife also fall into the water, Xiaoquan panicked and shouted, "You must not move, I'll be right there." They were about 1.5 meters apart, and Xiaoquan swam forcefully over, grabbing Xiao Xia's clothes and pushing her upwards. "It was thanks to that force that I managed to climb onto the ice surface," Xiao Xia cried.
Watching her husband sink underwater, Xiao Xia was almost disheartened. "I can't die, I still have a daughter to raise, and I still have my in-laws to take care of. They've already lost their son, they can't lose me too," Xiao Xia said. In that moment, the strength of her family made her try her best to hang on. "I really couldn't climb anymore, my body felt heavier and heavier, so I shouted for help desperately," Xiao Xia said. "I heard others say that lying on your back in the water increases buoyancy, so I lay on my back, with my head resting on the edge of the ice. I also heard that ice blocks have buoyancy, so I hugged one to my chest." Half an hour later, she heard the sound of fire trucks and saw flashing lights.
Relatives: They were a filial couple
Xiaoquan and Xiao Xia had been married for 17 years and had a 16-year-old daughter. Xiaoquan was the eldest in the family, and after getting married, he continued to live with his parents.
Xiaoquan's aunt told reporters that these two children (Xiaoquan and Xiao Xia) were extremely filial, never talking back to their parents. Whatever delicious food they had, they would always let their parents and child eat first. For many years of marriage, they had never seen them quarrel with their parents. "Their family was always so harmonious, how did they end up with such misfortune?" The old lady sobbed. "Filial! These two children were so filial!" Xiao Xia's mother-in-law cried, saying that on the day of the accident, the two children went to the city to look for the elders, and she didn't want them to go. "How could grown-ups just disappear?" But the two insisted on going. "Alas, it's my fault, if I hadn't let them go, it would have been better," the old lady cried.
Special dispatch to Tieling, Chief reporter Tianyi Zhao