Jiangsu recognizes selfless officer as martyr

"Grab me! Grab me!"

Those were the last words recorded by Xie Yufeng's body camera before the 24-year-old police officer perished in the icy Banqiao River in the early hours of Jan 20, last year.

Xie, serving at Banqiao Police Station in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, was on night duty, dealing with the steady stream of routine work. Shortly after midnight, three incidents came in quick succession: a damaged motorcycle rearview mirror, a fraud complaint involving a stolen gaming account, and an argument between a designated driver and a customer.

Xie dealt with all of them. He had been at the station for just 150 days, having transferred from an elite special unit to front-line station work.

Then, sometime after 1 am, the station received another report: a man was threatening to take his own life at the Banqiao River. Xie and an auxiliary officer rushed to the scene.

The river is located about two kilometers from the station. The patrol car could only take the two officers so far; the rest of the way, they ran across a frosty dirt path, down a flight of stairs and along an embankment. On his body camera recording, Xie's breathing can be heard, quick and urgent in the freezing air.

When they reached the man, the temperature was close to 1 C. Xie stood in the cold wind and talked to him for nearly half an hour, trying to calm him down. Shortly after 2 am, the man appeared to be mollified to the point that the officers were preparing to take him back to the station.

As Xie took a position adjacent to the river, the man's emotions suddenly surged again, and in an instant, he fell into the water. "Get the life ring!" Xie shouted to his colleague as he sprinted toward the embankment.

There was no rescue equipment within reach. Without hesitation, Xie vaulted over the 1.5-meter railing, gripped the stone base with both hands and lowered his body, attempting to turn himself into a human ladder, but the man was still beyond reach.

That particular stretch of the Banqiao River is wide, swift and deep. With only seconds to act, Xie selflessly plunged into the dark, icy water to attempt a rescue, but he quickly vanished. Within minutes, a team of firefighters, medics and fellow officers pulled him ashore — but it was too late.

Jia Yang, a senior colleague at the station, still struggles to speak about what happened. "I saw Xie lying there. His face was pale, and his uniform was soaked through," Jia said. "I kept calling his name, telling him to wake up, but there was no response."