He fails to save drowning teen... then learns victim is his only son

He fails to save drowning teen... then learns victim is his only son
January 03, 2009

A GOOD Samaritan gave up in his attempts to save a drowning teenager, only to find out later that it was his only son.

According to ChinaNews.com, 19-year-old Haohao had leapt into the river in Jiangning district in the city of Nanjing on Tuesday evening.

Farm worker Huang De Lin, 43, told reporters: 'I was passing by when I heard some children yelling: 'Someone has jumped into the river!' There was no one else around, so I followed the children to the river.'

When Mr Huang arrived at the scene, he saw bubbles on the surface. The children told him that this was the spot which the teenager had gone into the water. After telling the children to get help and call the police, he took off his shirt and trousers, and jumped into the icy cold water.

Said Mr Huang: 'The shallow part of the river was up to my waist, so I could only tread the river bed carefully.'

When the bubbles started disappearing from the water surface, Mr Huang decided to swim towards the deeper part of the river. Unfortunately, he started to tire and felt the onset of cramps, so he gave up and returned to the side of the river.

By the time Mr Huang was back on land, police from Dongshan county had arrived at the scene. They praised Mr Huang for his bravery and took down his particulars.

As he had to rush to his work, Mr Huang then left the scene - and unknowingly, his son.

As the river was too deep and wide, the police had to enlist the help of a salvage team, who managed to recover Haohao's body from the centre of the river on Wednesday morning.

When the police collected the body, they found no visible injuries, but managed to retrieve a mobile phone and identity card from his jacket. They realised that the young man lived in the same area as Mr Huang and after follow-up checks, they were shocked to learn that Haohao was Mr Huang's son.

The police arrived at his house in the early hours of Wednesday morning to deliver the tragic news.

When reporters arrived at Mr Huang's house, they saw his ex-wife sprawled on the floor. She had been crying since news of her son's death broke.

'I am full of regret,' cried Mr Huang, beating his chest in grief. 'Why didn't I try harder? I could have saved him!'

He added that had he known it was his son, he would have sacrificed his own life to save him.

Suicide

Reporters noticed that Haohao had written down his flaws on a page in an exercise book found. They included 'Too lazy to go to work', 'Web addict', 'Smoking' and 'Disobedient'.

According to a neighbour, Mr Huang and his ex-wife had divorced four years ago, and father and son had lived under one roof since. Due to work commitments, they seldom spent time together.

The police concluded that Haohao had committed suicide because there was a barrier at the edge of the river and it was not possible for someone to fall over accidentally.

About half an hour before his son jumped, Mr Huang had received a phone call from Haohao, who said that he was in Dongshan and wanted to meet up with him. Mr Huang took a bus and met Haohao at the terminal.

Before they parted, Mr Huang had asked Haohao if he was attending the wedding of a schoolmate from the same village. Haohao had replied that he was busy and would not be going.

Source: http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,188586,00.html?