It had all the ingredients of a gripping drama: A damsel in distress. A courageous Good Samaritan who plunges into icy waters to rescue her. Her grateful parents track him down to thank him profusely.

But the ending did not pan out quite as in the movies.

Four years ago, 17-year-old student Huang Fei was riding her bicycle home in Changzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, when a motorcycle hit her. Huang fell into the river by the side of the road, struggling in the icy waters to reach the bank. Her cries for help drew a large crowd but none was willing to jump into the cold water until one man dived in and pulled her to safety.

Where is the savior?

The girl, in shock, was taken home by a school driver -- and did not even find out who her savior was. The family even went to the local media to find the hero and it was only a week later that someone called to say the man was a migrant worker named Yang Yong.

"When I saw the girl was about to drown, I jumped into the river without taking off my clothes," Yang was quoted as saying.

Huang and her mother took some gifts to Yang's home; and wished him a speedy recovery from the cold he was suffering because of his exertion during the rescue.

Then came the twist in the tale: Yang named Huang and the motorcyclist as co-respondents in a lawsuit demanding 260,000 yuan (US$31,400) as compensation for the illness he contracted as a result of his bravery.

Yang was found to be suffering from chronic arthritis with his knees feeling increasing pain each passing day. Doctors said he might have developed the condition while rescuing Huang from cold waters.

The illness is hard to cure. The treatment, which only alleviates the pains, costs around 580 yuan (US$70) a month, which he could not afford.

He was also worried about his future as he could not continue selling vegetables as doctors warned that any strenuous work could make his condition worse.

He considered seeking compensation from the culprit in the accident, motorcyclist Chen Shundi. But police said they could do nothing to help since they were treating the matter as a traffic accident, which had nothing to do with Yang.

Lawsuit filed

When Huang's family refused to ask compensation from Chen for fear of getting into trouble, the desperate Yang filed the lawsuit seeking recompense for treatment costs and loss of income.

"I didn't want to take a young woman to court, but I had no choice," said Yang.

A shell-shocked Huang's mother said: "We cannot afford it at all because I'm only a worker with a monthly income of 260 yuan (US$31.4), and my husband has been laid off."

A court finally ordered Huang's family and Chen to pay 5,000 yuan (US$600) to Yang for hospital expenses.

A recent program on China Central Television (CCTV) looking back on the complicated case highlights the dilemma of being a hero.

Yang was not the first one caught in such a plight.

Many people have risked life and limb to save the lives or property of others only to find there was no help forthcoming if they suffered any loss because of their heroic deeds.

In Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, a man was killed by a fire when he tried to turn off the cooking gas valve of an unattended boat on West Lake.

His widow had to sue the boat owner for compensation when she was refused financial aid.

In Chang'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, a man was crippled when he tried to rescue a fellow villager who fell into a well. He took the survivor to court when he could not afford an operation that cost more than 100,000 yuan (US$12,000).

According to China's Civil Law, these cases can be categorized as "voluntary service."

If a person, without legal obligation, suffers losses when taking care of other people's affairs in order to prevent losses for those people, his act is called voluntary service.

The benefactor has the right to ask the beneficiary for compensation for losses.

Difficult situation

The trouble is, when the loss is huge, the beneficiary is put in a very difficult situation.

Even if a life were saved, not everyone would be willing to cough up a life's savings to thank the benefactor.

"We should not only praise heroes' deeds but also pay them for their losses," says Ye Lin, a legal professor with Renmin University of China.

"Society and the government should do something to help heroes, such as establishing a foundation," says sociologist Zhou Xiaozheng.

Such foundations at national and local levels have gradually been established over the last few years.

In Beijing, for example, a foundation was set up in 2002, with 5 million yuan (US$600,000) given by the municipal government as principal.

The foundation has been raising money through donations from all walks of life to keep going.

The China Foundation for Justice and Courage, founded in 1993, has grown from about 200,000 yuan (US$24,000) to 100 million (US$12 million).

Last year, the foundation began giving prizes to about 30 national heroes each year for fighting crime or saving lives. The family of each dead hero gets 100,000 yuan (US$12,000), while the wounded receive between 20,000 and 50,000 yuan.

Some local foundations, such as the one in the southwestern city of Chengdu, can barely stay afloat because of financial difficulty, according to local media.

"The country should enact a law specifically catering for heroic deeds, which have always been encouraged in Chinese tradition," an official with the China Foundation for Justice and Courage, who preferred not to be named, tells China Daily.

Although regulations concerning the protection of the heroes' rights are prevalent in many places, there is no national regulation or law.

"The formulation of such a law will, first of all, show the central government's support for heroic deeds," she says.

The law will also make it possible for heroes to continue their normal life as it would stipulate what hospitals, employers, social security departments or schools should do to help the heroes or their children.

"Only when the entire society is mobilized to support heroes will people be confident to help others," she says.

(China Daily February 18, 2004 )