With roaring flood waters crashing down into his village, one man
named Gao Fengtai was left with the impossible choice of saving his wife
or his mother. Seems like he might have made the wrong decision.
Gao lives in Daxian village outside of Xingtai city.
He received a message on Tuesday as he left work from the local
meteorological observatory, issuing a red alert for heavy rainstorms.
Fearing a possible flood, Gao rushed back to his village to check on his
mother, who lives alone.
He parked his truck outside of his mother’s house and waited there
for a full three hours for the flood waters to wash over the village,
but nothing happened. Exhausted from his long day, Gao returned to his
own home and fell into a deep sleep.
After midnight, Gao’s wife heard a terrifying announcement from the
village — “The flood is coming!” She woke up her husband, who
immediately rushed to his mother’s home, located two minutes away.
Once he had made sure his mom was safe, Gao rushed back home, only to
find that his wife had blocked their door to prevent water from rushing
in. He shouted to her to get their children and his father up to the
rooftop, and then left once again to tend to his mother.
All by herself, Gao’s wife pulled their two children and his disabled
father onto the roof. Eventually, the flood was gone, but so was his
wife. She left him, taking with her their two-year-old son,
four-year-old daughter and 2,000 yuan in cash.
“She’s a good wife with a strong personality and always takes good care of my parents,” Gao said. A reporter
then asked Gao whether it would have been possible for him to pull his
wife and their children to the rooftop first, and then go to rescue his
mother. “It was impossible, I wasn’t sure who I should save first,” he
replied in regret.
“I can’t imagine what went through her mind when I went straight for
my mother,” he continued. “Abandoning my mother would be reprehensible,
but leaving my wife behind would be unacceptable as well. I know she
must be so disappointed in me.”
He said that he would beg for her forgiveness by visiting his wife’s
parents’ home soon, though he confessed that he wasn’t sure if he could
win her back.
Also, no word on why he couldn’t have just taken his mom to his own
house in the first place. Still, at least they managed to avoid serious
harm. Many others weren’t so lucky. At least 130 people died in Hubei from severe flooding last week. At least 17 died in Gao’s village alone.
