China boy hands in bag containing US$22,000 to police despite dire family situation with sick father in hospital, believing owner may need money
- Boy tries to chase owner riding a bike to return the money
- School organises a ceremony to honour boy’s good deed
A 13-year-old boy found 158,000 yuan (US$22,000) on the street and took the money to the police rather than keeping it for his family even though they were in a precarious financial position.
The family of Yang Xuan from Jiangsu province in eastern China has struggled to make ends meet since the boy’s father was hospitalised after a cerebral haemorrhage.
On December 3, Yang was walking home with his mother, Zhu Xiaorong, when he noticed a white bag lying next to a stone tablet. He opened it out of curiosity.
“I did not expect there to be such a large sum of money inside the bag,” he told Jiangsu TV.
Despite his surprise, Yang tried to catch the owner, who had just left on a bicycle, but the man was cycling away too fast, and Yang could not catch up.
Yang told his mother: “The owner must be distraught, and he probably needs the money to save a life, like my father. Let’s call the police.”
