HE WAS AT THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Stephen Ellison

        HE WAS AT THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME

On Saturday, November 14, 2020, Stephen Ellison, a 61-year-old Englishman, was walking by a river in China. Why was he there? He wanted to see a nearby village.

Ellison, who also takes part in triathlons, is head of the British mission in Chongqing, China. He is into his first month as the Consul-General. 



While he was walking, a 24-year-old woman “slipped on rocks” at the side of the same river and fell into the deep water.

Patrick Wintour, Diplomatic Editor at the Guardian newspaper, writes that “Footage filmed by onlookers showed her struggle in the current, disappear under a footbridge and emerge facedown, apparently unconscious.”

People on the side of the river watched in dismay as the woman seemed to be drowning. Yet no one attempted to help her!

White-haired Stephen Ellison, who is from Newcastle, saw what was happening. Without missing a moment, he took off his shoes, “showing some very colorful socks” and plunged, fully clothed into the water.

He swam to the young woman, turned her over, “lifted her face clear of the water and swam backwards to the steep sided riverbank,” BBC Diplomatic Correspondent James Landale wrote.

“She was unconscious, she was not breathing and for a short time we feared the worst. But as we got back to the side she started breathing again,” Ellison told the BBC.

People who were passing by the incident threw “a large red life-belt” attached to a rope into the river. The young woman was pulled out of the water. Ellison then swan to a shallower spot and climbed out of the water.

The young woman, who is from Wuhan, “was extremely grateful” to Mr. Ellison. He is primarily there to support bilateral trade links between Britain and China.”  Now we can add to that role – “saving lives.”

The UK in China wrote “We are all immensely proud of our Chongqing Consul General Stephen Ellison who dived into a river on Saturday to rescue a drowning student and swim her to safety.”

Ever since China ended Hong Kong’s political independence and the Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei was banned from providing 5G networks to the UK, UK China relations have been at a low ebb, the Guardian Diplomatic Editor noted.

Yet, after the incident, the Chinese Ambassador to the UK said, “Salute to Stephen Ellison British new Consul General in Chongqing His name will be remembered not only in Chongqing area but around China.”

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