HEILONJIANG PROVINCE, China -- A heroic Chinese milkman caught a baby falling from a building just in the nick of time on Thursday in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.
CCTV reports that Li Gang, the milk-delivery man, had no idea that he would provide more than milk for babies when he woke up on Thursday morning. As Li carried out his daily delivery at a supermarket, a woman rushed in, desperately explaining that a woman was trapped on a third-floor windowsill with a four-month-old baby.
Li and others immediately rushed to the site, where they found a woman sitting on the edge of a thin windowsill, cradling a baby in her arms. Both of them were cornered by the thick smoke escaping the room, seemingly trying to escape a fire without avail.
Angst climbed as more people gathered around. Slanting rays of sunlight sliced the building in two, leaving the mother and the baby sitting helplessly.
Realizing that time was not on their side, Li and his colleagues refused to stand by. Using their delivery truck as a ladder, Li climbed onto the second-floor balcony, and two of his colleagues made their way up to the building entrance rooftop to cover the most ground.
Having decided to get the baby down first, Li tilted his body, and reached out his arms while trying to keep his balance, trying to get the baby as the mother carefully handed the swaddle down.
Just as everyone thought everything was going to be alright, the swaddle suddenly broke, dropping the baby.
Recalling the suffocating moment, Wang Zhimin, the mother of the baby, said she could only guess what caused the fall: the zippers on the swaddle might have given way to the weight, or there might be some other reason. But what she knows for certain was that a second later, her baby was lying safe and sound in the arms of Li, who had sacrificed his own safety to save the baby.
Following the catch, Li and his colleagues took a second before snapping to attention. As Wang dropped the empty swaddle, Li and his colleagues quickly wrapped the baby up and brought it down.
Wang later told the local TV Station that her heart filled with relief the moment she saw her baby brought to safety. Despite herself still being in danger, she was grateful for Li and his colleagues.
Wang had every reason to feel so for the heroes.
After helping Wang down, instead of staying for the waves of glory, Li and his colleague waited just until the fire was put out, before turning on their heels to leave quietly.