Ambulance Slammed by Taxi While En Route to Hospital, Flatbed Truck Finishes Journey

An ambulance lies on its side after colliding with a black Audi at the corner Custom St West and Lower Albert St in Auckland, New Zealand on Nov. 2, 2010. (Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

An ambulance rushing to a hospital was slammed in the side by a taxi, flipping the ambulance over. A passing by flatbed truck then helped to carry the patient to the hospital, with the doctor and other helpful citizens holding the stretcher onboard.

The ambulance was carrying a man suffering a heart attack in Henan, China, on Feb. 23, according to the Beijing Youth News. The patient has successfully recovered. In an act of modesty, the driver of the truck left the hospital after delivering the patient without letting anyone know.

The Backup Ambulance

A nurse named Yuan Lingling told the Beijing Youth News that she was riding in the ambulance with the patient. Yuan said that after the ambulance got off the highway, it passed through the intersection where the accident happened.

In a video published on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, on March 12, the ambulance enters an intersection—the footage was likely caught by a traffic camera. A taxi crossing into the intersection slams on its brakes, but is too late to prevent the collision. The ambulance flips over onto its left side.

“In a flash, the ambulance was hit and flipped over, everyone inside was tossed around,” Yuan told the Beijing Youth News. After the ambulance was knocked over, Yuan said people came from outside to open the back doors.

Yuan said that just as they were gathering themselves together and trying to figure out how to send the patient to the hospital, a flatbed truck pulled up to them.

The video includes a telephone interview with a man claimed to be the doctor who was riding in the ambulance. The doctor, named Yang Changbao, said that a flatbed truck that was passing through the intersection stopped next to them.

“[He] told to get on the back of the truck,” Yang said. “Other kindhearted people jumped on the truck to help.”

Others helped move the stretcher onto the back of the truck. According to Yuan, the whole process from the accident to transferring the patient took less than two minutes. Some who helped to load the stretcher also held it down as they all drove to the hospital.

When they arrived, Yuan says she was with the patient until midnight. Only then did she and Yang start noticing the injuries they sustained from the crash.

The Truck Loaded With Kindness

After the patient was taken into the hospital, some of the staff went outside to thank the truck driver for his kindness.

However, the driver left without a word.

On Feb. 25, the Beijing Youth News made contact with the driver, named Qi Yongyao. Qi said that when he saw the ambulance flip over, he get out of his truck. When he saw the patient, he decided to take action.

“Hurry and get him onto my truck, we’ve got to go!” Qi had shouted, according to the report.

Qi’s actions in helping to save the patient and not wanting recognition is an example of Chinese modesty.

Modesty also takes the form of not showing off one’s accomplishments or abilities.

If a Chinese individual receives praise, often they will brush it off. This is another way such traditional modesty manifests in the East.