Editor’s note: The 2011 tragic case of Yueyue definitely made Chinese society look in on itself and start to question the ethics and laws it was living by. Watching the video footage of eighteen people refuse to stop and offer aid to a toddler after she had been run over by two cars was haunting to say the least. It was this case that inspired Shenzhen to adopt a new “Good Samaritan” law; laws that absolve people who provide assistance of any liability arising from their efforts and shift the burden of proof to the party making the claim.

And yet two years later, in large swathes of the country, people are still reluctant to offer aid to people in need in fear of being sued themselves. These two recent news stories, translated from Chinese, outline the conundrum that Chinese face in this ethical morass: are you prepared to accept the negative ramifications of helping an elderly person that has fallen down? The first tells the story of what happened when people help and the second tells the story of when they didn’t.

On June 15, nine year-old boy, Xiao Hua, was playing downstairs in the Zhengnan Flower Garden neighborhood with his friends, when they saw an old woman fall over nearby. “We were playing when we happened to see an old woman fall down on the side of the road. Once she saw us she cried out, ‘Hey little one, come give me a hand to stand up,’” said Xiao Hua. “We hurried over to give her a hand, and I wouldn’t have guessed that as soon as I held her arm to help her up, she latched onto my arm and accused us of crashing into her.”

Xiao Hua’s account is corroborated by other witnesses at the scene. “I was located no more than 10 meters away from the scene where the 70 year-old woman fell down. I could see everything clearly; she definitely fell down by herself,” said Ms Chen, a shopkeeper of a junk food store located near the scene of the incident. At first, there were two old women walking side by side as they ascended (the staircase) when one of them slowly dropped down to the ground half-way up, the other old woman disappeared shortly after”.

Ms Chen continues. “I was getting ready to go over to lend a hand, but then didn’t when I saw the three children run over to help. Seeing that she still hadn’t gotten up even after some time, I surmised that the children didn’t have the strength to help her up; that’s when I walked over. ”

Another woman who was present at the incident, a Miss Wang, said, “Once I drew near I saw that the elderly woman had latched on tight to the wrist of the child; it was so tight that she left marks in his skin. Only through a concerted effort was I able to finally break her grasp free.”

Having to pay compensation for something you didn’t do

The old woman demanded compensation for medical bills incurred from the incident, but the boys’ families refused. On November 19 all parties were forced to meet for mediated arbitration. By the end of the negotiation it was decided by the Nanwai County Judicial Offices that the 20,000 RMB medical expenses incurred by the old woman were to be split into two, and have one half be split into four. The families of the three children and the old woman would each pay a quarter of 10,000 RMB. This compromise would have the families of the three children responsible paying 2,500 RMB each.

Xiao Hua’s father Mr Liang could not accept the verdict. Mr Liang said, “While the money in this settlement is a lot, I’m not willing to hand over one red nickel. The point of all this is that my child had clearly done a good thing but in the end he has to pay compensation for having done it. With the way things have turned out, my child will be unlikely to provide help to others in the future.”

Accident or scam? Source: shrff

“None of them dared to step forward and help the old man”

Early in the morning, at the intersection of Chengli Street and Diyou Road, an old man stumbled and fell, and was unable to get up.

It happened during the height of morning rush hour; there were a heavy degree of foot and vehicular traffic. However, seeing that an old man had fallen down, not many people stopped, some even reacted by running away. The people that did stop just looked at him, and at each other, helplessly. None of them dared to step forward to help the old man up.

The old man was approximately 80 years-old and was very weak and frail. After falling, he tried to get up by himself but couldn’t, all he could do was just lay on the ground. By now, a group of bystanders had already encircled him.

Miss Sun was riding her bike when she saw the old man lying there. She quickly hurried over, “No one was willing to help him up. Seeing an elderly man fall down like that made me feel very anxious,” said Miss Sun.   

With recent news of “good Samaritan extortion” there was clearly a lingering fear among those that surrounded him that something might happen. When confronted with such an incident, what can be done?

Understanding the unspoken rule

Upon asking, no one had yet contacted the police. Miss Sun took out her phone and called 120 (police emergency services).

Putting down the phone, Miss Sun barred the path in front of the fallen old man; she directed away E-bikes and bicycles to go around the man in order to avoid causing him further injury. Other residents that remained in the area understood the unspoken order and formed a protective circle with the man in the middle of it.

As they held a silent vigil, one person ran to the top of the street to call over the auxiliary police. After understanding the situation, the police slowly helped up the man to his feet after having lay face down for about five or six minutes. The ambulance eventually arrived and the man was taken to the hospital.

Seeing the ambulance drive away, the crowd gradually dispersed. Two good-natured people that didn’t initially know each other talked with one another as they walked away, from which came a heavy sigh: “Having good intentions, yet not daring to step forward to help…”

 

Sources: iFeng, and iFeng

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Keywords: good samaritan good Samaritan laws in China; Chinese society; compensation