PUBLISHED ONJune 05, 2024 4:47 AMByLim KeweiDelivery rider Wei Qin could not shake off his feeling of unease after making a delivery to a visibly distressed woman in the wee hours of the night on May 30.
His intuition turned out to be right — the customer later attempted suicide by jumping into the Qingjiang River running along Lichuan in Hubei province, China.
Fortunately, thanks to his quick reaction, he and a fellow delivery rider reached the woman in time to help rescue her.
Wei told Chinese media outlet Jimu News that it was raining heavily when Wei delivered the woman's order to a square near the river. He noticed that she was crying.
With other orders still to be completed, Wei hurried off to his next destination.
But he was unable to ignore a nagging feeling about the woman and decided to stop and check her order.
Discovering that she had ordered a bottle of white wine and a pack of razor blades, an alarmed Wei immediately texted his chat group of delivery riders, asking them to check on the woman.
He rushed back to the riverbank after finishing his second delivery. His friend, Yang Fengming, who is also a delivery rider and had read Wei's message, was already there.
Before the two men arrived, the woman had jumped into the river and her friend had leapt in after her, reported China Daily.
Yang recounted: "It was pitch black and raining, and the current was strong. Her friend was struggling to bring her ashore.
"Both of us stood on the riverbank to pull the woman up while her friend pushed her up from the river."
After they brought the woman to safety, Wei called for an ambulance. The delivery riders stayed and comforted her while they were waiting, and left only when help arrived.
On rushing to the scene after receiving Wei's message, Yang said: "I couldn't just ignore it, or I would've been bothered by my conscience."
He and Wei even returned to the riverbank after the rain had stopped to dispose of the wine bottle, razor blades and other rubbish, reported Jimu News.
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lim.kewei@asiaone.com
