On the evening of April 5, Xu Ming, a student at Renmin University of China, helped drive a ride-hailing driver suffering from an acute cerebral infarction to the hospital in time, buying crucial time for emergency treatment.

Xu was traveling with his friend Deng Weijie in a ride-hailing car driven by Zhang Shuchun. Shortly after the trip began, Zhang whispered, “I’m feeling unwell. Could you get out and take another car?” Before Xu and Deng could respond, Zhang added that one side of his body felt numb and asked Xu, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, to help navigate to the nearest hospital.

Xu immediately realized that the situation could be serious. “I can drive. Let me take the wheel!” he said.

Given Zhang’s request and the urgency of the situation, Xu offered to drive him to the hospital. As Xu had a valid driver’s license, and with Zhang’s permission, Xu carefully settled him in the back seat, took the driver’s seat and drove steadily toward the nearest hospital. 

After arriving, Xu and Deng helped Zhang through the emergency process, including registration, examination and consultation. They accompanied him for three hours until his family arrived.

Doctors later diagnosed Zhang with an acute cerebral infarction. The two students’ quick response helped save valuable time for emergency treatment. After receiving timely care, Zhang was discharged on April 25.

“In such an urgent moment, you stepped forward without hesitation and without regard for personal gain,” Zhang wrote in a letter of thanks. “Your actions showed the kindness and sense of responsibility of young people today.” 

Zhang and his family came to RUC and presented Xu with a silk banner in gratitude. In response to their repeated thanks, Xu simply said, “A life was at stake. It was what we should do.”

For Xu, the choice was not accidental. Looking back, he emphasized the influence of role models around him: his classmate Yang Yulin, who had donated hematopoietic stem cells and helped save a person’s life, and Chen Chuangyu, an RUC alumnus who had served as a volunteer in China’s border regions and devoted himself to grassroots governance. 

“As a student at RUC,” Xu said, “it’s my duty and my instinct to step up when people need help.” 

The story reflects RUC’s long-standing commitment to educating young people with compassion, courage and a strong sense of social responsibility.

(Adapted and translated by Liu Sihan and Zhu Yan, undergraduate students at the School of Foreign Languages, Renmin University of China.)