A French man gave emergency first aid to a man who fainted yesterday at a downtown Metro station, winning approval from the Metro authorities as well as passengers.
Police said the man surnamed Xue, 63, became conscious after he was sent to a hospital.
“I could not stand by watching the old man lying on the ground and no one helped,” the good samaritan told Shanghai Daily. He asked not to be named, only saying his friends usually call him “Damo” in Chinese.
“I do not come here to be a hero,” said the foreigner.
The incident happened about 11:45am in a transit passage at Zhongshan Park Station linking Metro lines 2 and 4.
The man suddenly fell down and broke his nose, said passers-by.
“When I saw him, he was soaked up in his blood,” said Damo, who said he quickly straightened Xue’s arms and legs, and opened his mouth to enable him to breath.
Police said Damo had basic knowledge of first aid. Alerted to the incident, police officers based at the station called an ambulance, which carried Xue away about 11:50am.
Police said Xue, who lives alone in the city, carried medicine epilepsy, but it was not yet known whether his fainting was caused by a seizure.
Damo said he has been staying in Shanghai for three years and is in the security business. Fluent in Chinese, Damo said it’s the first time he conducted first aid in the city.
“I’m glad to know the man is fine now,” he said.
“We should praise and learn from the foreign friend,” said an Internet user, who posted a photo online, showing Damo squatting beside the man lying on the ground with others watching.
It’s not the first time a foreigner extended a helping hand at a time that society worries about moral descent and people are often seen as indifferent to those in need of help.
Shanghai Daily reported in August last year that Greg Carew, a South African, helped a Metro passenger apparently having an epileptic seizure on Metro Line 2, who later expressed his sadness that “no one among the huge crowd came to help.”
Another foreign man helped a woman who was stabbed at Pudong International Airport in March last year. Other Chinese travelers simply watched.
“I can understand that they are afraid that they might be sued by the people they help, especially when there’s no witness,” said Damo. “I cannot judge whether they are right or wrong.”
“To me I do not have such concerns.”