China Scene: North

Cop in hospital vigil to return lost money

A police officer waited for eight hours at a hospital to return a handbag containing 5,000 yuan ($710) and several bankcards to its owner.

Li Zhiwei found the bag in a hospital rest room in Dachang, a county in Hebei province.

Li assumed the cash was needed to pay for life-saving hospital treatment and decided to wait for the owner. He settled in on a bench, where he later nodded off, clutching the bag.

A woman, surnamed Li, showed up at the hospital the next morning looking for her lost handbag. She was so touched by the police officer's vigil that she tried to give him 500 yuan as a reward. He refused to take the money.

(Yanzhao Metropolis Daily)

Baby blues spur father to jump from building

A young father surnamed Chen tried to commit suicide by jumping from a tall building - holding his 1-month-old baby.

Chen has been diagnosed with postpartum depression, which usually affects women after childbirth.

The suicide attempt is thought to have been triggered after the young man accidentally dropped his baby in a bathtub, almost drowning him, a few days ago. His wife rebuked him for his negligence.

Chen became upset if his wife mentioned the baby after the bathtub incident and eventually tried to end his life.

A doctor surnamed Fang at a hospital in Shenyang, Liaoning province, told Chen he was one of an increasing number of postpartum depression patients. "We had four cases that day - and two of them were men," Fang said.

(Shenyang Evening News)

(China Daily 04/02/2008 page6)