Accidental injury kills 50,000 children each year

A 12-year-old girl was drowned on June 14, 2015 after rescuing her brother, who fell into a river in Dengzhou, Henan Province. [Beijing News]

A 12-year-old girl was drowned on June 14, 2015 after rescuing her brother, who fell into a river in Dengzhou, Henan Province. The two children were “left-behind children”, as their parents work in Jiangsu, leaving them in the care of their grandmother.

12 year-old Chen Ruixue and her younger brother lived with her grandparents in Dengzhou, Henan Province. Chen’s parents are migrant workers who have worked in Jiangyin, Jiangsu province for 12 years. They work 12 hours a day installing machine parts in a factory. They sometimes work till midnight and are often too exhausted to even speak with their children. They earn a joint monthly salary of 6,000 yuan (US$967), which barely supports the children’s school fees and living expenses. As such, the two kids were left with their grandparents, one of whom farms land 30 kilometers away from their home every day, while the other suffers from severe rheumatism and cannot bend their knees.

On June 14, Chen and her friend took Chen’s little brother out to play by the riverside, despite the river’s warning sign in full view on location. Chen’s little brother dropped his toy into the water and leaned forward to pick it up, when he suddenly slipped and fell into the river. Chen knew that she could not swim but jumped into the river to save him anyway. Chen never back came up, and Chen’s friend started shouting for help. Nearby farmers came and saved the boy, but Chen was not found.

They called the police, who found Chen’s body in the river.