ZHENGZHOU - The local government is trying to appease the grief-stricken family of a 58-year-old villager in Central China's Henan province after he lost his life saving three people who fell into a cold river on Jan 17.

Li Guoxi, a man from Quzhuang village in Henan, got off his electric bicycle and jumped into the water immediately after seeing a woman with two children fall in a river on the afternoon of Jan 17, said Deng Jianxin, an eyewitness who is from the same village as Li.

"He was in such a hurry to save the people that he even had no time to take off his clothes before jumping into the 3-meter-deep water," Deng told China Daily on Tuesday.

Zhang Jingfeng, 41, the woman saved by Li, said she was riding an electric bicycle carrying her daughter and 8-year-old son when the bike hit a stone on a bridge and lost balance, causing it to swerve into the freezing water.

"It was raining at that time, and the road was slippery," Zhang said. "I felt helpless as I was falling over."

Li pushed Zhang and her son to the riverbank and got back to save Zhang's daughter later. "He pushed my daughter with his hands at first and then pushed her with his head," Zhang said. "After saving all of us for more than 20 minutes, he was out of strength and floated motionless in the water."

Deng Xinliang, Zhang's husband, told China Daily that he felt "deeply moved" by the brave actions Li took to save his wife and children.

"Living in such a society with kind-hearted people like Li makes me feel safe," he said.

Nearly 3,000 people went to Li's funeral to pay their respects, and the local government also expressed condolences to Li's family members and gave them money and food for Spring Festival, said Zhao Yongjun, head of the publicity department of Suiping county, where Quzhuang village lies.

Li's sudden death has ravaged his wife mentally and physically. "She fainted twice at the funeral due to extreme sadness," Li Junyang, son of Li Guoxi, told China Daily on Tuesday. "My father was the breadwinner of the family, and his death has made my mom helpless."

Li Guoxi's annual income was about 24,000 yuan ($3,800) in a local paper company, and his wife could earn only about 4,000 yuan each year from grain sales.

Chen Guihua, 55, Li Guoxi's wife, said she has no idea about the future. "What can I do without my husband?" She cried. "Although I admire his heroic deeds, I don't know what I will get except for the compliments."

Chen said she hoped that the local government could grant Li with the honorary title of "martyr", which will bring the family a sum of money from the government.

"My husband has saved three lives at the cost of his own, and he is a hero," Chen said. "He deserves the honorary title."

Zhao Yongjun, head of the publicity department of Suiping county, said that the local government has reported Li's heroism to the provincial government and applied to have him recognized as a martyr.

China Daily

(China Daily 02/01/2012 page5)