A hero 14-year-old boy volunteered to be sent headfirst down a narrow 100ft well six times to rescue a young girl trapped underground and dying from a lack of oxygen.
The three-year-old accidentally fell into the concrete borehole in Xun County while walking with her father, Mr Zhao, on November 30.
She remained trapped about halfway down, with one hand above her and the other below her, according to rescuers who lowered an oxygen tube down the well to prevent her from suffocating to death.
Footage from the rescue bid in Hebi in Central China's Henan Province showed her desperate father kneeling over the well and begging to be sent down himself as rescuers told him they cannot reach his daughter due to the narrow opening measuring just eight inches in diameter.
Wang Qingjun, a local volunteer who was sent to help the rescue operation, then suggested his own 14-year-old son, Wang Minran, would be small but strong enough to carry out the urgent rescue.
According to the fire service, Minran and his parents all agreed to let the schoolboy take the risk, but the authorities declined on the grounds that he was still a minor.
But as the minutes ticked by and Mr Zhao's daughter's cries grew ever fainter, the rescuers agreed to give Minran some basic training before sending him down head first.
The authorities said it took six attempts and repeated work to dig up the concrete and earth around the well before Minran was finally able to reach the youngster and secure a rescue harness under her arms.
Minran said: 'The fourth time I went down the well, I was right next to the girl but needed to go back up to adjust my oxygen supply.
'The girl said: ''Big brother, don't leave me''. I told her to be brave, and that I'd be back for her.'
The teenager was pulled back to the surface and the girl followed shortly after as she was attached to a harness.
She was taken to hospital and was not in a life-threatening condition thanks to the teenager's heroics.
Minran's mother said: 'We were at home when [my husband] called saying there was a girl stuck halfway down a well.
'The rescuers couldn't reach her, but he thought maybe our son could.'
