Mr. Hu and his wife came specially from the Fengxian District of Shanghai to Jian Qiao University on Monday to express gratitude to three expats–Russian students Roman and Kirill, along with French teacher Bastien–for saving their 17-year-old daughter.

According to the three expats, on the evening of May 14, they were enjoying the night view from the balcony of their apartment when they saw someone struggling in the nearby river. They immediately rushed to the scene.

 “She had swallowed some water and was gripping a net tightly,” Kirill described the situation. Hand in hand, the three formed a chain, with Roman jumping into water to grab the girl. Their initial attempt failed, but they ultimately managed to pull the girl onto the bank. A surveillance camera showed the whole process, which lasted from 8:08 p.m. to 8:11 p.m.

The girl started crying after she was rescued. The three expats decided to take her to their apartment, where they gave her dry clothes to change into. Because of the language barrier, they turned to a Korean student, Juyong Park, for help translating. Park talked with the girl and encouraged her to have a bath. The whole group stayed with the girl until she was sent to the supervisor of the apartment building.

Upon hearing about the incident, security and medical staff from the university came to the apartment and contacted the near-victim’s family.

The girl is a student at a nearby vocational school. According to thepaper.cn, the president of the university will commend the three expats, and they may also receive a Leifeng Award from the school.