(Photo/yangtse.com)

On the afternoon of April 10, Wang Xudong, 26, was escorting his girlfriend home when he spotted some people running along an irrigation canal with ropes and sticks in their hands. Then he saw a man floating in the water.

"I have to save him!" he said to his girlfriend, already pulling off his shoes. He then jumped into the water without a second thought. With the help of one other rescuer, the drowning man was pulled out of the water.

(Photo/yangtse.com)

The young man's girlfriend, Li Chenyang, 23, rushed to the scene and successfully resuscitated the man. She first cleared debris from his nose and mouth and then proceeded to give him chest compressions and mouth-to mouth resuscitation.

(Photo/yangtse.com)

Wang said he smelled alcohol on the drowning man, who threw up after being dragged ashore.

Local police arrived at the scene around 5:30 p.m., and the drowning man was taken to a nearby hospital. Thanks to the Wang's timely rescue and his girlfriend's first aid abilities, the man was out of the hospital by around 9:00 p.m., said a hospital employee on duty that day. He was physically no worse for the wear after his ordeal.

(Photo/yangtse.com)

Wang said he felt a hint of fear immediately after jumping into the water. The canal slope was too slippery to grip, so he and the drowning man both floated four or five meters until some garbage in the water stopped them.

"I was afraid I might lose him when he jumped into the water," Li said. "If [Wang] hadn’t come back, I'd have jumped into the water as well."

Very coincidentally, the young man's father saved a man’s life in the exact same location ten years ago.

The couple is planning to marry in the second half of this year.(Photo/yangtse.com)