奇速英语

东风运河边的守护神

Since she saved the first drowning person at the age of 17, Wu Yongxiu has never stopped saving lives. Over the past 40 years, she has saved 24 lives in water by putting her own life in danger many times. For this, Wu was honored as a national moral model(全国道德模范) on Oct. 13, 2015.

Wu lives in a village in southwest China’s Chengdu city. The Dongfeng Canal（东风运河）passes in front of her home. Growing up near the water, Wu swims like a fish. The river that Wu loves and hates at the same time takes lives every year.

In Wu’s village, a couple lost over 100,000 yuan in 2001. Unable to bear the blow, the couple jumped into the river to kill themselves. Wu tried her best to save the couple. "She gave us a second life. We must live for a better one," said Chen, one of the couple. "Not everyone is thankful to what I did," said Wu. In a cold winter night, she jumped into the river and saved a drowning man. Instead of saying thanks, the man was very angry. Wu talked with him a whole night till the person calmed down. Now Wu is already 58 years old. She is not as strong as in the past. However, she just saved a woman last month. "Saving life is a mission of my life, and I am ready to give my life to it."