Photo of the suicide woman and rescue police officers

A 23-year-old woman from Southwest China’s Sichuan Province was rescued by police after drifting down a river for 6 hours and 81 kilometers. She had attempted suicide over a broken love affair by jumping off a bridge, which she said she regretted as soon as she hit the cold water.     

The woman, surnamed Yang, told Shanghai-based news outlet thepaper.cn in an interview on Friday that she broke up with her boyfriend on Wednesday night, and sat crying on the edge of a bridge in Luzhou city. 

“Some boys walked by me and heard them say ‘Someone is going to jump off the bridge!’ I was afraid to draw public attentions so I jumped into the river,” Yang told thepaper.cn. 

Yang said she could not swim, but finally floated back to the surface of the water after recalling a video on how not to drown she had watched on a video platform.

“The current of the river was very swift and always carried me to the center of the river again and again,” said Yang. She eventually used a bamboo pole and then a piece of driftwood as a buoy.

Yang said she has encountered whirlpools, and two water snakes drifted past her. “The water snake was on the same piece of wood and it kept looking at me. I felt scared.”

Her remorse deepened with the pain increased. She vomited and shivered, and after four or five hours of shouting until she was finally rescued.

When she drifted toward an industrial area of Hejiang county, she saw two boats moored to the shore.

“I saw people wearing life jackets on the deck… To attract attention I waved the piece of wood and shouted desperately,” said Yang, who was finally pulled onto the boat’s deck shortly before dawn.

I was so excited I was crying and laughing at the same time. I felt so lucky,” said Yang. She called her parents who were also crying, and apologized to them. 

She told media her 24th birthday is in a few days, and thanked those who helped saved her life. 

“I felt extremely regretful when death was coming,” said Yang, “I am doing fine now just a little hoarse.”



Global Times