A heroic, 10-day battle for life in Nanjing has ended tragically, with the news that the man who had saved his wife from the flames of a fire in their apartment has died of his burns in a local hospital in the early hours of yesterday morning.
It was on 13 March that a fire broke out in the Longfeng Jiayuan Residential Community in Nanjing’s Yuhuatai District. Trapped inside, a married couple found what little refuge from the fire they could up against a window frame.
But the flames came ever closer, severely burning the two of them. To save his wife, the husband held onto her as she hung out of the window, the window frame protecting her from further burns.
The man, surnamed Chen, managed to hang on to his wife just long enough, until fire fighters on the scene were able to extinguish the blaze and assist in bringing the woman back into the apartment.
After her rescue, the exhausted woman, surnamed Wang, pleaded with them, “Save my husband first”. But try as doctors might, her husband succumbed to his injuries and passed away in the early hours of yesterday, 22 March.
After learning the news of Chen’s death, a 120 emergency doctor with the hospital’s emergency department surnamed Liu, wrote of his feelings on social media. “The man didn’t speak very clearly because he was seriously injured and his respiratory tract was burned, but he kept telling me, ‘Look at my wife first… Look at my wife first’”, Liu said.
This was another boost to an ordinary working family in trouble, faced with huge medical costs. For directly following the fire, media reports of Chen’s bravery and heroism had prompted Nanjing citizens to extend a helping hand.
As of yesterday at 19:00, their donations had exceeded ¥1 million, reports People.cn. A second operation on Wang has also gone successfully.
Ever since the fire, Chen’s father has been living in the hospital to be by his son and daughter-in-law’s sides. He had come from his home town of Bozhou in Anhui Province.
At Nanjing Gulou Hospital, Chen’s father took the hands of the Purple Cow News reporter who broke the story, repeatedly saying, “Thank you for your help! Thank you for your report!”.
Those interested in making a donation to help this poor, badly burnt widow from Anhui with three children may do so via this link to an online donation page or by contacting Ms Wang’s sister directly on 18156737177.
