Feng Xie, a graduate of Shengda College in 2010, lost her life when rescuing a drowning student on September 17th, 2010, her eighteenth day of being a teacher at Tongbai County.
Feng got her Teaching Qualified Certificate after graduation and was assigned to work at the Central Primary School in Tongbai County, Henan Province, on August 30th, 2010. On the afternoon of the eighteenth, her students invited her to visit their home after school. Then the tragedy happened on the way to their home when Chen Bin, one of her students, went to a riverbank to wash his feet and slipped into the river. Feng ran to the river and jumped into it without hesitation after hearing the poor boy screaming for help. When she pushed the boy to the bank with her last strength, she became too weary to get out of the river due to the exertion of rescuing him. And the villager, who came to help, found it was too late to bring Feng back to life.
Two days after the tragedy, the local Education Department proposed RMB34,000 compensation but was rejected by Feng’s parents who insisted their daughter get a medal for her heroic action instead of money. Additionally, the school where Feng worked must take responsibility for their daughter’s deathin the line of duty.
Feng majored in financial management during her education at Shengda College and was considered a diligent and obliging student in her class. Everyone felt sorry for what had happened to Feng and her family. The founder of Shengda College donated RMB100,000 once he heard the news. With time limited, some teachers donated RMB10,000 as well. On the afternoon of Sep.21st, the Department of Accounting leaders drove to Feng’s home to offer sympathy to her family, with all the donations and sincere condolences of the founder, faculty and students. The college and the local county education department have now honored her as a heroic figure and call on all the people to learn from Feng’s spirit. (By Li Yang, FAO Assistant)
