Bridge Jumping Chinese Parkour Enthusiast’s Body Found

From Sina:

Body of Sichuan Parkour Enthusiast Who Went Missing After Jumping into River Found 8 Days Later

From Chengdu Commercial Daily (reported by Zhou Taiyang, Zhang Bingrao), April 6, Parkour enthusiast Wang Zijian went missing after jumping into the Tuojiang River from Tuojiang Bridge No.1 in Luhzou which is located at where the Yangtze River and Tuojiang River meet. Yesterday [April 14], on the 8th day of Wang Zijian’s disappearance, his body was found over 10 kilometers away downstream in the Yangtze River.

Yesterday [April 14] morning, over 10 kilometers on the Yangtze River downstream from where the incident occurred, on a sand dredger near the Guifei Garden of Luhzou Jiangyang District Huangyi Town, boatman Old Qiu was busy as usual. “Old Qiu, seems like something got caught by the buoy tender,” a nearby boatman from the Junfeng told Old Qiu. Then, Old Qiu asked the captain of the Qinglong No.9 to go check it with him on a skiff. When the skiff was near the buoy tender, they discovered that the steel cable of the buoy tender had hooked a dead body. The two of them called the police afterwards. The police dispatched a speedboat to salvage the body. According to a policeman at the scene, there were no evident bruises on the body, “however, because of the huge impact from the dive, his face was apparently twisted/warped.”

Because the characteristics of the dead body was similar to the height of the previously missing Wang Zijian, the police informed this situation to Wang Zijian’s family members. Yesterday [April 14] afternoon, at about 2:30pm, Wang Zijian’s mother, his uncle, and some other family members arrived at the Luzhou City morgue. The Wangs identified the deceased as indeed being Wang Zijian. Upon seeing him, mother Wang burst into tears: “Jian Jian, you can’t do this to your mother…” She passed out before she could finish. The other family members immediately rushed to bring her back to consciousness.

According to Wang Zijian’s uncle, because of his parents’ divorce, Wang Zijian has lived with his mother ever since he was small. “She suffers from depression, and before this, her son was her biggest concern. Now her boy is gone, and we don’t know if she can get through this.” It has been known that Wang Zijian’s body will be cremated today [April 15]. After Wang Zijian’s disappearance, other parkour enthusiasts in Luzhou had from time to time come to the riverside to mourn him. “Now that the child has been found, we’ll tell the other enthusiasts, so they can see Jian Jian one last time,” says Wang Zijian’s uncle.

Comments from Sina:

手机用户 [四川成都]:

These kids know only to do things they like, but forget to do things their parents like~which is to be healthy and alive!

guest [上海]:

Disregarding one’s safety is the worst way of being unfilial!

氷的眼淚 [上海]:

How could other people save him? By having another person jump down 40 meters? By the time people made their way to the riverside, he had been already been carried away [by the current]. This is a river, not some small brook in front of your home!

4371醉 [福建福州]:

So cool you died, right?! Next time, remember not to think with your ass.

[Note: 跑酷 pao ku is the Chinese word for “parkour” and literally means “running cool”.]

手机用户 [广东深圳]:

Nowadays kids don’t know what responsibility is.

手机用户1793461937 [浙江杭州]:

This kid is so irresponsible to his mother. It wasn’t easy for his mother to raise him, yet just like this, he’s gone. “The grey haired burying the black haired”, it shouldn’t be like this!!!

手机用户 [北京]:

Although this is a case of suffering the consequences of one’s choices, I still want to say: Rest in peace.

手机用户 [山东潍坊]:

Parkour is a type of physical exercise, not for ignorantly showing off.

guest [新西兰]:

Now that you’re dead, there’s nothing “cool” left.

手机用户 [广东广州]:

You only live once, don’t treat life as a game.

Comments from Sina Weibo:

Simon__梁施文:

China needs this kind of fear-no-death spirit!

刚烈无双伏龙芝:

This Darwin Award winner… has been found.

Sir-Hunter:

Reading the comments, seems a lot of people are criticizing him. I want say: those who have different values have no right to speak! And people who are in pursuit of their dreams don’t ever need to be understood!!! Life itself is a bet, it may be colorful, it may be mediocre, it may be a worthy death, or it may be life-long gloom!!!

绿发魔女:

His bad judgement is a warning to other people. So everyone’s departing has something to do with his/her fate. He’s dead, and certain people are still taking pleasure in his misfortune. The real nao can are these people who show no respect to the dead.

冯小闹的祖国很傻很天真:

A SB’s behavior. Then there will be someone who’ll say: Live free and die proudly for your dreams.

还好没人叫这名:

Next time bring a condom, use it as a swim ring if necessary.

奋斗期的R:

Playing with one’s life and one’s life played out! Didn’t treat parkour as a sport/exercise, only wanted to attract eyeballs. God is above. Look at your mother’s torn heart, can you rest in peace?

Captain-Ares:

Wanted to play parkour in the water? Isn’t that too difficult?!

黄子洋VS滚滚子:

Overconfident. The price to pay is death. This young man is so really stupid.

老幼病残孕专座:

A worthy death, good, good. To die doing what one loves is better than most people dying slowly to their last breath on a hospital bed.