Brave student honored for courageous act during earthquake

The high school division of the Yinchuan Foreign Language Experimental School in Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, organized an award ceremony on Monday to acknowledge a student whose courageous deed of carrying his classmate at the first moment of an earthquake evacuation won widespread attention online.

“The recognition of this child will inspire more children to be kind-hearted people,” said Hu Qing, the school’s principal, during the award ceremony.

At 4:43 pm on Thursday, a 4.6-magnitude earthquake hit Yinchuan’s Jinfeng district. In that critical moment of evacuation, Guo Qing, a second-year high school student, demonstrated remarkable courage and compassion. Upon noticing a classmate with mobility problems, Guo carried the classmate on his back to a safe location.

The school’s surveillance cameras captured the deed. The video quickly attracted the interest of numerous media platforms after Guo’s head teacher, Li Hengrui, shared the video online.

“I was shocked and scared when the earthquake happened too. But in the chaos, my primary instinct was to never leave my classmate behind,” Guo said. “Everyone was safe, and that’s what matters.”

Guo was honored as an “Extraordinary Student” and received a prize of 9,000 yuan ($1,228). Additionally, he has been granted an exemption from tuition fees for his remaining years at the school and has been awarded a scholarship to further his studies in Germany.