Chen Fuchao, a man heavily in debt, had been contemplating suicide on a bridge in southern China for hours when a passer-by came up, shook his hand — and pushed him off the ledge.
Chen fell 26 feet (8 meters) onto a partially inflated emergency air cushion laid out by authorities and survived, suffering spine and elbow injuries, the official Xinhua News Agency said Saturday.
The passer-by, 66-year-old Lai Jiansheng, had been fed up with what he called Chen's "selfish activity," Xinhua said. Traffic around the Haizhu bridge in the city of Guangzhou had been backed up for five hours and police had cordoned off the area.
I'm sorry, but...
From: Up a Gumtree | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Lai volunteered to talk Chen down but was turned away by police, Xinhua said. Lai then broke through the cordon, climbed to where Chen sat, greeted him with a handshake, then pushed.
Photos in the Beijing Morning Post showed Lai, shoeless and in a T-shirt, saluting after Chen fell.
The paper said Lai was released on bail Friday but did not give any details. It said he had been on medication for "a mental illness" for decades and had been on his way to a hospital for his pills.
-------------------- Five billion years from now the Sun will go nova and obliterate the Earth. Don't sweat the small stuff!
From: Boston | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
I'm reminded of the only worthwhile scene from Crocodile Dundee II (although it happened a bit differently).
From: Vancouver, BC, Canada | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
I'm sorry but... what's so funny about this story?
That an obviously emotionally/mentally disturbed man was nearly murdered?
Or that his nearly-killer was also suffering from a "mental illness".
As someone who's driven past would-be suiciders and heard the cries of "Jump!" from the truly mentally sick people around me reading this story just made me think that humanity had sunk to a new low.
Sorry to be a downer.
From: Australia | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
5 hours? I'd have just given the guy a two liter of coke and waited for the magic to happen.
The man wasn't "nearly murdered" as I see it. The guy got off lucky. If he'd have jumped on his own, not likely he would have been aiming for that cushion.
and where's the sympathy for the old man and any other that might have been in a bigger emergency?
Well, I hope the best for both of them, but there is a Monty Pythonesque turn to this. On the other hand, I can see the point that this was real, not a show and stories in which some idiot in a crowd encourages a jumper make my blood boil but.... in hindsight, this one ended about as well as it was going to.
Too many bigger tradgedies in the world for me to get too upset over this and I can identify with the old guy more than the heavily in debt guy. I'd have probably chuckeled too.
From: East Toledo | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
If the guy who had been pushed had died, this would not be funny. It also would not have been funny if the guy had just run up to him and pushed. The absurdist bits, which makes this funny, are the handshake and the salute.
I can see how others might not see the absurdity of the incident.
All that said, I wish the best for both men.
-------------------- Five billion years from now the Sun will go nova and obliterate the Earth. Don't sweat the small stuff!
From: Boston | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
As horribly selfish as suicide can be, tying up traffic is nearly inexcusable - I would've pushed the guy too! What's worse is when some jackass throws themselves off a building and injures someone when they land.
From: New York, NY | Registered: Jul 2003
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