Chinese man swims 3 hours clutching tyre to check on parents in flooded village

Millions in China have been moved by a man who swam for three hours through floods to check on his parents’ status.The floods in southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, caused by torrential rains and a number of dam collapses, have reportedly left 39 people dead and affected nearly 400,000 residents.From July 3 to 6, cumulative rainfall in Guangxi’s southern region reached 400 mm to 600 mm, with Qinzhou city receiving over 800 mm of precipitation.On July 6, a 30-year-old man surnamed Xie, swam for three hours clutching a tyre to check on his parents in a village in Qinzhou. He was accompanied by a friend.Xie and his two siblings live in town while his parents live in a village 10 km away.Despite being a strong swimmer, battling the turbulent floodwaters for three hours proved deeply exhausting for Xie. Photo: HandoutDuring the previous night, Xie’s mother had called him saying his father had gone to secure the rice he had harvested earlier. However, he had not returned, and she was worried about him.Their village was already flooded, with houses submerged up to the first floor. The rising rainfall was causing power failures in the village, leading to interrupted mobile signals.Unable to contact his parents afterwards, Xie said he could not sleep all night, worried that his 63-year-old father might have been swept away by the flood.Xie’s family owns two houses in the village. One home on a mountain was unaffected by the flood, but the other containing the harvested rice was submerged. His father’s plan had been to move the rice to the first floor.The two men swam one hour for the last kilometre on their way to his parents’ home. They bought two new truck tyres at a shop in town for the journey.Faced with another hour of swimming for the final kilometre, Xie and his friend bought two new truck tyres from a town shop to aid their journey. Photo: HandoutArriving at the house, they found the quickly rising floodwaters had trapped the father on the upper floor of the house.Further ReadingXie said his father smiled when he saw him coming, but the first thing he did was scold the older man for “risking your life for some rice”.He then guided his father along a narrow path behind their house, and slowly walked back to the mountain house.Then, seeing Xie soaking wet, his mother burst into tears and thoroughly admonished him.Xie returned to the city later that day, after making sure his parents were fine. The journey back took another two hours of swimming.Relieved but furious upon seeing her drenched son, Xie’s mother, above, burst into tears and scolded him for risking his life. Photo: HandoutHe said he had to return because he owns two businesses in the city, where systems are in place to allow him to call rescue services to the village if needed.He acknowledged that although he grew up swimming a lot, he still felt scared traversing the freezing floodwaters. He also found the three hours of swimming exhausting.Xie managed to film some footage during his adventure, and posted it online. His duty to his family and the stark reality of the floods moved many people online.The video received nearly 2 million views and more than 20,000 likes, but it was removed after the platform described it as “dangerous behaviour”, according to Xie.The wild footage Xie filmed during his swim went viral online, racking up nearly 2 million views and over 20,000 likes. Photo: Handout“You have great stamina. I wouldn’t last for more than 10 minutes,” an online observer commented.Another replied to it: “It was not just stamina, but also his deep love for his parents that kept him moving.”Many moving stories featuring people caring about each other during the Guangxi flood have gone viral.A husband who had escaped the flood later abandoned his car and swam for a kilometre to find his wife so they could take refuge together.In another case, a viral video showed a young Chinese woman losing her grip many times while clinging to a wall in fast-moving floodwaters, to hold onto her dog and stop it from being swept away.