On February 17, the leaders of Longting District specially went to Zhao Suiyu's home and handed over a bonus of 20,000 yuan to Old Zhao.
That day, Zhao Suiyu was fishing by the Longting Lake. A middle-aged man was swimming in the lake when he suddenly lost his strength and sank underwater. Without hesitation, Zhao Suiyu dived into the water and swam towards the man. As the man faced the threat of death, he instinctively clung tightly to Zhao Suiyu. Zhao Suiyu loudly reminded the drowning man that it was okay to hold onto him while forcefully dragging him towards the shore. Within the short distance to the shore, the middle-aged man repeatedly clung tightly to Zhao Suiyu for self-preservation, pulling him underwater several times, nearly costing him his life. Zhao Suiyu said: "Since that rescue, I haven't dared to go back into the water for many years; I was also scared!" However, during this rescue on the night of the fifth day of the New Year, Zhao Suiyu didn't hesitate at all and also fully learned from past rescue experiences. He took off his cotton clothes, broke through the ice, and systematically carried out the rescue of the drowning person.
Twenty years ago, when saving someone in the lake, Zhao Suiyu had also been scared.
Yan Kun is a student, and on the evening of January 27, he was playing with some classmates by the waterside. "At first, stepping on the ice by the shore seemed fine. Unexpectedly, my body suddenly sank. I desperately tried to grab the surrounding ice layer, but the ice broke immediately. The river water quickly soaked through my cotton clothes, making it impossible for me to swim as I kept sinking."
Zhao Suiyu is a retired worker from an open wool textile enterprise in Kaifeng. His home is only a five-minute walk from the Zimu Bridge where he saved the person. His family includes his wife, son, and daughter-in-law who work outside.
Tall and ruddy-faced, with a sincere smile and few words, 58-year-old Zhao Suiyu recounted to numerous media reporters and unnamed officials the experience of saving someone which he had repeated many times recently in just a few sentences.
The incident occurred on January 27, the fifth day of the New Year, around 8 p.m., at the Zimu Bridge near Daliang Gate in the Kaifeng water system. "When the accident happened, I was coincidentally on the north side of the bridge, and upon hearing someone calling for help, I immediately rushed to the south end of the bridge." Zhao Suiyu pushed aside the onlookers, saw someone drowning in the icy river, slowly sinking into the water. He took off his cotton coat, broke the ice with his hands and elbows, jumped into the river, dragged the drowning person while swimming towards the shore, finally catching the wooden stick extended by people on the shore, and together with everyone’s help, lifted the drowning person onto the shore.
The deepest part of the water system is about three meters. The river water quickly covered Yan Kun's head. At this moment, Mr. Fan and his wife were taking a walk by the riverbank. Seeing someone fall into the ice hole, they and the people on the shore quickly picked up sticks to try and save the person. Just as the drowning person was about to be completely submerged, a man suddenly rushed out from the crowd, risking his own life to jump into the water and save the drowning person. Mr. Fan told the reporter: "Someone asked who he was, but the rescuing man didn't say anything and quietly left."
"I was freezing cold and wanted to find time to change my clothes."
After the story of Zhao Suiyu's rescue spread, Old Zhao became a "celebrity," and his neighbors also felt proud.
Zhao Suiyu's wife told the reporter that this was not the first time Zhao Suiyu had jumped into the water to save someone. Twenty years ago, during a summer, Zhao Suiyu had another heart-stopping experience of saving someone.
"I only felt my feet touch the riverbed, and the icy cold river water had already covered my head. I only thought of holding my breath and not drinking any water, my whole body was almost numb. At this moment, I don't know what kind of force brought me to the surface." Beside Daliang Gate, the river of the Kaifeng water system had melted and was flowing slowly. When recounting the incident, the 18-year-old drowning youth, Yan Kun, still made one feel the chill and tension of that cold night. He did not know where that "unknown force" came from at the time. When he firmly held Zhao Suiyu's thick hand, he once again truly felt the warm force that saved his life.
After the news of Zhao Suiyu's rescue spread, Old Zhao became a "famous person," and his neighbors also felt proud.
On January 29, our newspaper's A08 edition published an article titled "Drowned People Rescued Ashore, Rescuer Quietly Left," reporting on the deeds of an unnamed good Samaritan in Kaifeng who broke the ice to save someone. On February 17, the reporter met the rescuing hero, 58-year-old sanitation worker Zhao Suiyu, beside the Zimu Bridge in the Kaifeng water system.
Leaders from the Kaifeng Municipal Committee and Longting District subsequently visited Zhao Suiyu's home to express their condolences. The Longting District Committee and the district government issued documents, calling on all employees in the district to learn from Zhao Suiyu and emulate his selfless spirit of saving lives.
When the reporter asked Zhao Suiyu why he didn't leave his name after saving someone, Zhao Suiyu said: "When everyone helped lift him onto the shore, the 120 emergency vehicle just arrived. Someone asked my name at the time, it's not that I didn't want to say, but I had no time to say it. I was freezing cold and wanted to find a place to quickly change my clothes."
After retiring in 2009, Zhao Suiyu became a temporary worker for the Longting District Sanitation Bureau, mainly responsible for checking the damage to the lighting fixtures in the second phase of the water system project within the jurisdiction of Longting, discovering and cleaning up riverbank garbage, and removing graffiti from walls and stone slabs.