IN August this year, an elderly woman surnamed Bao, who lived in Longgang District and was nearly 80 years old, lost her only daughter. With the assistance of the police, the old lady handled her daughter’s funeral arrangements and later headed to Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, to seek refuge with relatives and friends.

Bao sent a registered mail to Longgang’s public security subbureau before leaving Shenzhen. A heart-warming story unfolded behind Bao’s letter, Shenzhen Evening News reported.

According to the News report, on the early morning of Aug. 7, Bao sought help at the Luogang Police Station because she failed to wake her daughter from her sleep.

Policeman Huang Yanjun was the first to arrive at Bao’s apartment and through their conversation, he learned that Bao’s daughter was seriously ill. Medical staff soon followed to the apartment and confirmed the death of Bao’s daughter after examination.

When Huang was ready to contact the funeral home to transport the body, Bao suddenly got up and stopped him, saying “Please, let me spend the night with my daughter.” Huang noticed this strange request and informed Cao Fu, a community policeman, about this.

Cao, who had been on leave, came to Bao’s home immediately after receiving the phone call.

It turned out that Bao’s family had encountered a series of misfortunes in the last two years. Last year, her husband died and this year, her only daughter was terminally ill. Her daughter was single, and Bao had no relatives in Shenzhen. All the family’s savings had been used to treat her husband and daughter.

Cao consoled Bao about her request to keep her daughter’s body for another night. “It’s summer and the body can only be well preserved if it is sent to the funeral home, and it won’t affect the neighbors. Don’t worry, we will help you deal with the funeral affairs,” he said.

Under Cao’s persuasion, Bao gave up the idea of spending another night with her daughter’s body. On Aug. 9, Cao and the community workstation staff accompanied Bao to the funeral home, and Cao volunteered to pay 1,200 yuan (US$187.92) for funeral expenses.

Cao also helped Bao escort her daughter’s cinerary casket as Bao was trudging along while mentally and physically exhausted.

After the funeral, Bao remembered the help she received from Huang, as he gave her 1,000 yuan for living expenses and left early for work before Cao arrived.

Bao also sent a banner to the Luogang Police Station to express her gratitude to the police.

Bao said she spent 20 yuan to print her thank-you letter because she was afraid her handwriting was not good enough and she was worried that the bureau wouldn’t receive it, so she sent it as registered mail.

She also asked her neighbors to help mail the letter because there was no post office near her home. (Zhang Yu)