Chinese police officer cuffs himself to suicidal man in desperate bid to save his life

Chinese police officer Li Yansong was driven by desperation when he cuffed himself to a man who was just about to jump off a building.

Mr Li, 25, who together with his partner saved the suicidal man atop a residential building in China’s Hubei province, has been hailed as a hero on Chinese social media.

Chinese media reports, which identified the suicidal man only as Mr Chen, said his family called the police on Aug 23 after they were unable to contact him for some time, and feared that something had happened.

Responding to the call, Mr Li and his partner found Mr Chen perched on the edge of a roof.

While persuading him not to take his life, Mr Li approached Mr Chen and cuffed their wrists together to prevent him from jumping or falling.

Videos of Mr Li’s quick thinking had gone viral, drawing more than seven million views on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, reported the South China Morning Post.

In the video, Mr Li could be heard telling Mr Chen to hold on while his partner reassured the man. Together with a group of firefighters who arrived later, the two police officers pulled Mr Chen to safety.

Chinese netizens praised Mr Li for risking his life to save Mr Chen.

On micro-blogging site Weibo, one netizen wrote: “This time, the handcuff was not used to cuff a criminal, but to save a life.”