Student sacrifices exam to save classmate to retake test

Local education authorities will arrange a make-up exam with a backup test paper for the student who sacrificed his chance of a crucial exam to save a classmate suffering from a sudden heart attack, said the Shandong Provincial Academy of Educational Recruitment and Examination on Wednesday.

Jiang Zhaopeng, a student from Shandong City Service Technician College, was on his way to take a spring college entrance exam when his classmate collapsed in their ride-hailing car, showing symptoms of myocardial infarction, epilepsy and cardiac arrest.

Jiang acted swiftly by using first aid skills learned in school to perform CPR and rescue breathing. The driver, Wang Tao, alerted traffic police and rushed through six red lights to reach the hospital in just seven minutes—half the time it would usually take.

The sick student has been transferred to a general ward and is currently recovering.

After ensuring his classmate was in emergency care, Jiang hurried to the exam site, but he was already too late for the Chinese language test.

"Exams can be retaken, but a life cannot," Jiang said, "I don't regret my choice".