The icy road made progress difficult, and rescuers carefully pushed a stretcher.
"It's not worth breaking your leg over 40 jin of water!" Around 1:40 p.m. on January 6, 63-year-old Mr. Zhao and his wife climbed Fushan Mountain with four buckets. On the steep mountainside, he suddenly slipped, slid down the slope about four meters, and hit his right leg against a rock, resulting in a fracture of his lower right leg. Experts said that although some believe mountain spring water contains more beneficial minerals, "it’s actually not much different from tap water."
Elderly man falls down the slope after fetching water
"An elderly man slipped and got injured while fetching water on Fushan Mountain opposite Huguangshan Residential Community. He was lying on the ground unable to move." On the afternoon of the 6th, citizen Mr. Li called our hotline 96663 to report that the injured man had fallen down a slope while preparing to descend after collecting spring water. Police and emergency services were on their way up the mountain for the rescue.
Reporters later arrived at the scene and saw an ambulance and a police car parked near the Fushan entrance at the intersection of Yinchuan West Road and Tongle Third Road. A police officer on the vehicle was using the radio to inquire about the rescue progress. "There was indeed someone injured on the mountain, near the water collection point at Liushiliu Cave in Donggou on the eastern side of Fushan," said a citizen who had just come down the mountain with water and was resting at the base.
Reporters walked up the icy mountain path, asking citizens who had finished fetching water and were descending. Eventually, they found the rescue team. The injured man had received initial bandaging, and police and paramedics were carrying him down on a stretcher. The steep and icy slope, covered in snow, was extremely difficult to navigate. Rescuers had to tread carefully through the weeds, fearing any slip might cause secondary injuries to the patient.
Too slippery: rescuers keep falling
"The mountain is just too slippery—we’ve all fallen several times!" Officer Wan told reporters. While descending the rugged mountain path, rescuers fell multiple times, but each time they did their best to hold the stretcher steady. "The hardest part was the section without a cement road—I fell three times myself, and the paramedics fell several times as well. But we managed to keep the stretcher stable and didn’t worsen the injury," said Officer Wan. Eventually, the rescuers reached a flatter cement section and no longer had to cautiously feel their way. However, the ice was worse there, and the flattened snow was extremely slippery. On the continuous downhill stretch, they quickly transferred the patient to a stretcher trolley and carefully slid it along the road.
At 3:24 p.m., the injured Mr. Zhao was finally rescued and brought down the mountain. An ambulance had been waiting by the roadside and quickly transported him to the hospital with sirens blaring. About ten minutes later, he arrived at the orthopedic hospital for a CT scan. "His right lower leg is fractured, but otherwise he’s fine," a doctor said. The patient suffered a tibial fracture in his right leg, but thankfully had no other injuries. He will need to be hospitalized for treatment.
Is it worth risking danger for mountain spring water?
On the stretcher trolley during the descent, Mr. Zhao told reporters he lives in Huguangshan Residential Community at the foot of the mountain. After lunch, he and his wife had carried a few small buckets up Fushan Mountain. After filling them with water, he began walking down the slope when he slipped on the ice, slid about four meters down the hill, and hit a protruding rock with his leg. He experienced intense pain and could not stand. His wife immediately called 110 and 120 for help.
During the rescue, Mr. Zhao’s son was both distressed and angry seeing his father in pain. "It’s freezing cold, and the mountain is covered in ice. Why did you even come up here? It’s so dangerous. Breaking your leg over a bit of water isn’t worth it!" He then helped adjust his father’s collar and hat to shield him from the cold wind. In the interview, it was learned that Mr. Zhao frequently collects mountain spring water from Fushan, often going up two or three times a week.