Elderly man left dying in the street
By Pan Zheng |
December 18, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE family of a 78-year-old man in Shenzhen plan to sue a property management company for dereliction of duty after the man fell and died from his injuries, and no one helped him, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.
Xiao Yusheng, a resident of Yitiancun Community in Shenzhen City of Guangdong Province, was found lying on the street of the community on Wednesday afternoon with severe injuries and covered in blood. However, during the 20 minutes he was lying there, no one tried to help him or call an ambulance. A security guard eventually called the police, but by then it was too late.
Xiao's family say the property management company should be responsible for Xiao's death because the security guards failed to help, while the company claim they have done nothing wrong.
The property management company said the security guard didn't try to help Xiao because they were worried they might cause more injuries, but Xiao's family say the security guard should at least have called an ambulance or turned Xiao over so that he could breath more easily.
However, an online survey involving 1,414 participants showed sympathy for the security guards and passers by. Over 83 percent said they would not help the man to get up - 67.4 percent said they would call an ambulance. There were also 16 percent of respondents who said that they would just walk away.
"It's not because we're not humane, but experience has taught us how to protect ourselves," one said. "In our country, if we help a fallen old people to get up, we may be charged for compensation".
Many people cited the well-known case in Nanjing in 2007. In that incident, a young man named Peng Yu helped an elderly woman who had fallen on the street to get up - later the woman claimed it was Peng who knocked her down and sued him for compensation. Eventually, the verdict said Peng should pay the old woman over 45,000 yuan (US$6,760).
"We still lack laws that protect people who would like to help, but dare not in such cases," says Zhao Wei, the director of the training department of Shenzhen Emergency Center. "However, even if people dare not help or don't know how to help, they should at least call an ambulance."
Xiao Yusheng, a resident of Yitiancun Community in Shenzhen City of Guangdong Province, was found lying on the street of the community on Wednesday afternoon with severe injuries and covered in blood. However, during the 20 minutes he was lying there, no one tried to help him or call an ambulance. A security guard eventually called the police, but by then it was too late.
Xiao's family say the property management company should be responsible for Xiao's death because the security guards failed to help, while the company claim they have done nothing wrong.
The property management company said the security guard didn't try to help Xiao because they were worried they might cause more injuries, but Xiao's family say the security guard should at least have called an ambulance or turned Xiao over so that he could breath more easily.
However, an online survey involving 1,414 participants showed sympathy for the security guards and passers by. Over 83 percent said they would not help the man to get up - 67.4 percent said they would call an ambulance. There were also 16 percent of respondents who said that they would just walk away.
"It's not because we're not humane, but experience has taught us how to protect ourselves," one said. "In our country, if we help a fallen old people to get up, we may be charged for compensation".
Many people cited the well-known case in Nanjing in 2007. In that incident, a young man named Peng Yu helped an elderly woman who had fallen on the street to get up - later the woman claimed it was Peng who knocked her down and sued him for compensation. Eventually, the verdict said Peng should pay the old woman over 45,000 yuan (US$6,760).
"We still lack laws that protect people who would like to help, but dare not in such cases," says Zhao Wei, the director of the training department of Shenzhen Emergency Center. "However, even if people dare not help or don't know how to help, they should at least call an ambulance."
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