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BEIJING: A top British diplomat became a hero in China after a video of him rescuing a student from a swollen river racked up tens of millions of views on social media.
The British mission in Chongqing said on Monday (November 16) that Consul General Stephen Ellison sprang into action in nearby Zhongshan over the weekend to save a woman who had fallen into a river running through the resort town.
“Due to the timely rescue, the woman quickly regained her breath and consciousness,” the post on the consulate’s official Weibo page reads.
Ellison, 61, was visiting town on Saturday when she heard a shout from a crowd as the woman fell into the water.
Video images of passersby shared by the consulate and various Chinese media show Ellison, 61, jumping fully clothed into the river, where the anonymous woman struggled to stay afloat.
Ellison, according to various outlets, an accomplished triathlete, dragged her to a lifebuoy thrown from the river’s edge before dragging the two to shore.
“We are all immensely proud of our Chongqing Consul General,” the UK diplomatic mission in China tweeted on Monday.
The hashtag “British Consul General in Chongqing saves female student who fell into the water” had garnered nearly 40 million accolades on Weibo on Monday night when news of Ellison’s bravery spread.
“For such an old man to save another person from the water in such cold weather, regardless of his own safety, he is a hero and a knight!” read a comment, I liked it almost 2000 times.
“Regardless of our differences … acting heroically is a virtue and should be commended,” wrote another.
Ellison took office in June after serving as a senior diplomat at the British Embassy in Beijing since 2014.
Ties between the UK and China have been strained this year by the UK’s decision to ban Chinese telecoms giant Huawei from its 5G networks, as well as frequent UK criticism of China’s human rights record in topics like Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
