Brain damaged China hero hit by car while trying to save lives of injured strangers denied Good Samaritan award by officials
- Father, 65, sees riders fall off bike, rushes to help, car ploughs into him
- Needs round-the-clock care, told actions not ‘grand’ enough for award
A 65-year-old man in China has been denied a Good Samaritan award by police despite the fact that he tried to save the lives of two people and was knocked down by a car and left in a vegetative state.
Zhang Shaomo was walking along the street in Gongan county, Hubei province in central China on April 7, 2023, when he saw a man and a woman fall off an electric bike, surveillance footage showed.
As Zhang approached the two people and tried to help them up, all three were hit by a car, the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald reported.
Zhang was the most seriously injured and has remained in a vegetative state since, according to his son whose name was not given in the report.
He said he had applied to the local police authority multiple times since May last year, hoping it would give his father the Good Samaritan award, but his application was repeatedly rejected.
“My father was rescuing people, but officials at the police authority told me what my father did not meet the criteria for a Good Samaritan certificate,” the son said.