A 30-year-old man in China swam through floodwaters for three hours to reach his parents trapped in a flood-hit village after losing contact with them.
The incident took place in Guangxi Province, where torrential rains and a dam collapse recently killed 39 people and affected nearly 400,000 residents.
The man’s parents lived in a village in Qinzhou, one of the areas severely impacted by the flooding. He and his two brothers lived about 10 kilometers away in a nearby town.
On the night of July 5, his mother called to say that his father had gone out to protect their rice crop but had not returned, leaving her deeply worried. Soon after, communication with the village was cut off due to flooding and damaged mobile networks.
Unable to contact his parents, the man, identified as Shai, spent a sleepless night fearing that his father had been swept away by the floodwaters.
The next day, Shai and a friend bought truck inner tubes to use as flotation devices and began swimming toward the village. After three hours in the freezing floodwaters, they reached the family home.
Upon arrival, Shai found his father stranded on the upper floor of their house near the flooded fields. Relieved to see him safe, Shai scolded his father for risking his life to save the rice crop.
He then guided his father along a narrow route to the family’s second home on higher ground, which had remained unaffected by the flooding.
After ensuring both of his parents were safe, Shai swam back to the town, a return journey that took another two hours.
Reflecting on the ordeal, Shai said that although he had swum many times before, the freezing floodwaters were terrifying, and the three-hour swim left him completely exhausted.
About The Author
