Chinese man achieves swimming feat after failed suicide attempt
HANGZHOU- A man who attempted to commit suicide by jumping into one of China’s most dangerous bodies of water instead managed to swim across it after changing his mind.
A man surnamed Xu, who planned to end his life after a messy divorce, swam 10 km after jumping into east China’s Hangzhou Bay, home to the Qiantang tidal bore, the world’s largest tidal bore in terms of scale.
Xu, a resident of Hangzhou, capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province, said he drove his car onto the Hangzhou Bay bridge and threw himself into the sea around 11 p.m. Tuesday.
After jumping into the bay, Xu changed his mind and attempted to hail a nearby patrol ship, but failed to draw the crew’s attention. He took off his waterlogged clothes and swam onto an uninhabited islet.
Xu then filled his underwear with pieces of polystyrene foam he found on the islet, using a large chunk of the material to buoy himself as he set off toward the shoreline.
He was found and rescued by a fisherman the next morning.
Xu told police that he was desperate after divorcing his wife and subsequently being kicked out of a house owned by the woman’s parents. Depressed, he turned to gambling and lost 10,000 yuan (1,577 U.S. dollars).
Police said Hangzhou Bay has the greatest tidal range in China and is therefore dangerous for even the most skilled of swimmers.
Source: Xinhuanet
Category: Community
