A 9-YEAR-OLD girl cried for help to rescue an old man, who passed out on a sidewalk in the Xiasha community in Futian District on Sunday, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.

    The old man, surnamed Lin and in his 70s, collapsed onto the ground and lost consciousness while he was walking around Xiasha at 6 p.m. Sunday. Several adult pedestrians realized that the old man was in need of help, but no one approached and gave him a hand. They were worried they might be held responsible for the senior’s fall, according to the Daily.

    When the little girl walked past the unconscious man lying on the ground, she immediately ran to a community health care center only 20 meters away to ask for help.

    Doctors at the health center performed first aid on Lin, who came to his senses after two minutes and gradually regained consciousness, according to one of the doctors who helped him, identified as Mo.

    The health care center contacted Futian People’s Hospital for an ambulance to take the old man to the hospital for further examination.

    Lin’s family was grateful for the girl, who they said saved his life.

    Many people in China are reluctant to offer help to anyone collapsed in public areas following reports of people who offered help but were later blackmailed by the people they were helping.

    In one such case that attracted nationwide attention, a court in Zhejiang Province in December 2011 ruled that a man, named Wu Jundong, should pay more than 73,000 yuan (US$11,664) to a senior couple who accused Wu of knocking them down, even though Wu had actually helped them, taking them to a local hospital for checkups.

    However, the court ruled that Wu was responsible because he couldn’t prove that he hadn’t knocked down the couple, causing people to fear that helping strangers may land them on the wrong side of the law.

    In some extreme cases, seniors have tumbled to the ground deliberately and used pedestrians’ sympathy to extort compensation.

    Netizens praised the girl’s righteousness and courage to give a hand to the old man.

    “The little girl has done the right thing. She offered valuable help with her intelligence. The pedestrians around should feel ashamed,” a netizen called “Rainbow After the Rain” commented on Sznews.com.

    (Zhang Qian)