Teenager falls off building, saved by neighbor

A teenager who fell out of the window of his 5th-floor home in the northeast province of Heilongjiang last Friday was saved by a neighbor who happened to be at the scene.

Xie Shangwei, 28, reached the falling teenager in time to break his fall, preventing him from hitting the ground at full force.

Xie, father of a seven-year-old girl, suffered slight injuries, while the teenager, 15-year-old Fu Jiawei, survived the fall with a broken wrist, a skull fracture and encephalic bleeding.

Dr. E Chunxu with the People's Hospital in Shuangcheng City said Fu's conditions were stable after treatment, thanks to Xie's attempt to cushion his fall. "It could have been fatal," he said.

Xie was allowed to go home after antibiotic treatment at the same hospital, but still walks with difficulty.

Xie has become a household name in Shuangcheng city after his heroic deed spread quickly on the web and won him widespread respect.

An Internet user who gave only his screen name as Eric said Xie's story kept him warm at heart in the bitter winter of Heilongjiang. "We thank you for passing on love and may your kindness always pay off."

Moved by his action, the city government of Shuangcheng has offered Xie 10,000 yuan (1,587 U.S. dollars) as a cash reward. His employer in Guangzhou voiced support and offered a refund of his train ticket back to his job.

In an interview with Xinhua Tuesday, Xie said the way everything had worked out was "like a dream."

"I heard cries for help and then saw a boy dangling from a window on the fifth floor. A woman was clinging desperately to his hand," said Xie.

Xie said he knew the woman, Gong Yujuan, the teenager's mother. "I saw his mother was about to let loose, so I moved a motorbike that was in the way and stretched my arms to the sky hoping to catch him in mid-fall."

Fu fell and hit Xie before falling to the ground. Xie passed out.

"It happened so fast and they both fell," said Xu Guang, a neighbor who witnessed the incident from his own apartment window.

When the accident happened, Xie was about to buy his train ticket back to Guangzhou in the southern province of Guangdong, where he worked as a migrant worker most time of the year. He was home in Heilongjiang for a once-a-year vacation.

"He is our savior," said Gong. "We can never thank him enough."

Gong said her son was lighting fireworks on the balcony when he tripped and yelled for help. "When I dashed out of the kitchen, he was dangling on the balcony and only his hands were clinging to the windowpanes."

Fu weighed 55 kg, a weight that experts said was equivalent to 800 kg when hitting the ground after falling from the 5th floor.

Xie, standing 1.8 meters tall, only completed junior high school and was rather shy while facing the press.

While in hospital, Gong knelt down twice to pay her thanks, and offered a cash reward, which Xie turned down.

"I did it out of instinct. It was impossible to see a young life being taken and do nothing to stop it," said Xie.

Xie said he grew up in a poor family and was often helped by his friends and relatives. "That's why I always do my best to help others, too."

In a similar incident last year, a young woman saved her neighbor's two-year-old girl who had fallen off a 10th-floor window in Hangzhou, capital of the eastern Zhejiang Province. Both survived with injuries.