The heroes at the foot of Ben Thuy Bridge

Fighting for survival from the jaws of death.

One morning in mid-March, Ms. Dau Thi Phuc (39 years old, residing in Block 15, Ben Thuy Ward) was attending a block meeting when she received a phone call from the local police reporting that someone had just jumped off Ben Thuy 1 Bridge in an apparent suicide attempt and needed her family's help. Ms. Phuc immediately called her husband, Hoang Van Manh (41 years old), and her younger brother, Dau Van Toan (31 years old), to see who was closest to home so they could rush to the Lam River to rescue the person.

“I was having breakfast at the time. When I heard Ms. Phuc's call, I immediately dropped my half-eaten bowl of noodles and rushed home to get my boat and scour the Lam River to rescue the man,” Mr. Toan recounted. That day, a 37-year-old man from Nghi Xuan district (Ha Tinh province), abandoned by his wife, decided to commit suicide on Ben Thuy 1 bridge. Upon receiving a report from the public, the Ben Thuy Ward Police immediately contacted Ms. Phuc's family hoping to save him in time.

The house of Mr. and Mrs. Mạnh is located on the banks of the Lam River. Photo: Tiến Hùng.

After about 30 minutes of struggling, Toan and Manh spotted a man in the water, about 500 meters downstream from Ben Thuy Bridge. When they reached him, the man was exhausted, his entire body submerged, with only one hand weakly flailing above the water's surface. At that moment, Toan steered the boat while Manh leaned into the river, quickly grabbing the man's hand and pulling at his shirt, desperately trying to save the life of this unknown man.

Working near the Ben Thuy bridge, Mr. Manh has witnessed many people jumping off the bridge to commit suicide. Photo: Tien Hung

The victim was then taken to Mr. Mạnh's house, where they burned firewood to warm him and help him recover. After a while, his family came to pick him up. Although he was saved by Mr. Mạnh and his brothers, Mr. Mạnh says that even now, he doesn't even know the man's name! However, that doesn't bother him at all. Because this is just one of dozens of successful suicide rescues his family has carried out over the years.

More than two weeks earlier, a 34-year-old woman, pressured by her family to get married, also decided to commit suicide on Ben Thuy 1 Bridge. “It was around 9 PM, our whole family was having dinner when we heard cries for help coming from Ben Thuy Bridge. Knowing it was another suicide attempt, without a word, we left our dinner, ran to the riverbank, and boarded a boat to search,” recounted Ms. Dau Thi Phuc.

Due to the darkness, the search was quite difficult. The two motorboats belonging to Mr. Mạnh's family split up and searched the river downstream of the bridge. About half an hour later, they heard the cries for help from the girl who was about to drown. After being rescued, the girl refused to go home, deciding to stay overnight at Mr. and Mrs. Mạnh's house… “It was so lucky. The river god must have been asleep that night, because she didn't know how to swim. I don't understand how she survived after jumping into the river for half an hour before we pulled her out,” Mr. Toàn recalled.

Mr. and Mrs. Mạnh can't remember exactly how many people they've saved by jumping off the bridge to commit suicide, but they estimate it to be between 20 and 30. Photo: Tiến Hùng

The joy of saving lives

Manh is originally from Con Se islet – a strip of land in the middle of the Gianh River (belonging to Quang Loc commune, Quang Trach district, Quang Binh province). His family has been fishermen for generations. More than 30 years ago, Manh moved with his family to Nghe An province, continuing their life on the river. They huddle together in small boats, anchored in the Lam River, to fish.

In 2000, Mr. Mạnh married Ms. Phúc, also a young woman from a fishing village. Ms. Phúc's family originated from Hưng Châu (Hưng Nguyên), but they had moved to live on boats many generations ago. Born on boats and struggling to make a living, neither Ms. Phúc nor Mr. Mạnh received an education. As a result, they are both illiterate. After their parents passed away, Ms. Phúc brought her youngest brother, Đậu Văn Toàn, to live with her family.

Mr. Toan steered his boat to bring a person he had rescued after jumping off a bridge back to shore. Photo: TH

In 2008, the Ben Thuy ward lent this family a strip of land on the banks of the Lam River, about 200 meters downstream from the foot of the Ben Thuy bridge, to build a house, ending their days of living precariously on the river. Having lived together for 20 years under the Ben Thuy bridge, Mr. Manh and Ms. Phuc can't remember how many people they've saved from suicide attempts. "We've participated in many rescues, almost every month. But not everyone survives. We consider it normal, so we don't pay much attention to it. I only remember that my family has saved about 20 to 30 people. Every year we save at least one person, some years we save up to five," Ms. Dau Thi Phuc recounted.

There was a time when they were casting their fishing nets in the river and saw someone jump off the bridge, so they immediately rescued them. Another time, they were at home when they heard cries for help and jumped into the river to save someone. But there were also many times when, despite being busy and out, as soon as they received information about someone jumping off a bridge, Mr. Mạnh and Ms. Phúc's family would rush back home, hoping to save the person.

A man who jumped off a bridge was rescued and brought to Mr. Mạnh's house to warm up before his family came to pick him up. Photo: TH

Despite doing good deeds, the couple has often been saddened by the way some of the people they rescue treat them. “Not everyone is happy to be rescued. Many people curse and blame us for not letting them die. In some cases, after we rescue them, we take them home to care for them and wait for their families to come pick them up. When the families arrive, they only pay us 200,000 dong, without a word of thanks. We don’t save people for money…,” Ms. Phuc said, shaking her head and sighing.

The rescue efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Mạnh are completely selfless, but saving a life has often resulted in significant losses for their family. “Sometimes, we’re casting our nets when we see someone jump off a bridge. At that moment, we have to cut the nets immediately to rush the boat to the rescue. Later, the nets are gone. Once, we lost tens of millions of dong worth of nets. But saving even one person makes us happy,” Mr. Mạnh said with a smile, adding that fishermen often believe in the saying “a life for a life.” If you save someone, you’ll have to pay the price to the river god, so they won’t try to rescue someone who is drowning. Mr. and Mrs. Mạnh are a rare case of overcoming this belief.

"Some people call us heroes for saving so many lives, but many others call us crazy. We see these things as normal, done instinctively; we save those in need. We don't think twice," said fisherman Hoang Van Manh.

“The volunteer efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Mạnh and Toàn in rescuing people who jumped off the bridge are very commendable. Because they live near the bridge, they reacted faster and more promptly than the rescue forces. The ward police have reported this many times, and we highly appreciate and value this act. This family does not have a permanent residence in the ward, only a temporary residence, and we are looking for ways to support them to stabilize their lives,” said Mr. Nguyễn Xuân Huân, Chairman of the People's Committee of Bến Thủy Ward.