Rescuing a young child by climbing barehanded, Guangzhou’s "Lifting Brother" turns out to be a youth football coach

Reported by journalist Wang Wei and intern Li Xin On the night of December 24, a tense scene unfolded at Baimagang Community in Tianhe District, Guangzhou. A young boy’s head was trapped in the anti-theft net on the 4th floor, with his body suspended in the air, facing imminent danger of falling. At this critical moment, three young men quickly sprang into action. Among them, Guo Yingxin, wearing a white shirt, climbed up barehanded to support the child and successfully pushed him back inside the apartment. Netizens affectionately nicknamed him Guangzhou’s "Lifting Brother."

Guo Yingxin, originally from Lufeng, Guangdong, currently works as a football coach in Guangzhou and runs a small fried chicken business in his spare time. Reflecting on that night, Coach Guo said, “I wasn’t sure at the time, didn’t think too much, I just climbed up. Maybe because we coaches have an instinctive reaction whenever kids are in trouble — it’s kind of a conditioned reflex.”

“When I heard a child was stuck in the window, I came out and saw I could climb up using the anti-theft net, so I called 119 and quickly climbed up,” Guo told reporters. As he climbed, two other young men reached the second-floor platform and held thick clothes to prevent him and the child from falling from the 4th floor. After the child was rescued, the other two asked Guo about his profession. When they learned he was a football coach, they said, “A football coach really is agile, fast, and has quick emergency responses!”

Cai Yan, Party Secretary of the Tianfu Community Party Branch and Director of the Residents’ Committee in Yuancun Street, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, stated: “Three young neighbors nearby saw the danger and didn’t hesitate to step forward. They quickly used the anti-theft net to climb to the 4th floor, worked together, and successfully pushed the child back inside the room, completing the rescue in about 10 minutes.” Meanwhile, firefighters and police arrived on the scene, confirmed the child was safe, and further inspected for safety hazards. Community staff and property management also came to comfort the family. After examination, the child was found unharmed.

Regarding being affectionately called Guangzhou football coach “Lifting Brother” by netizens, Guo Yingxin said, “I think this encourages everyone to step up more in such situations in the future. Our society needs more caring citizens like us. Of course, I also want to remind parents to take this seriously and not leave children alone at home.”

According to reports, 25-year-old Guo Yingxin played football at Evergrande Football School in his early years, then competed in the youth super league for over a year with Meizhou Hakka, before transitioning to become a football coach. “I mainly work as a youth football coach now, training kids at Tiyu Dong Primary School. My goal is clear — to build a solid football foundation for children, which is not easy nowadays. I’m focused on doing this well.”

In his free time, Guo Yingxin and his girlfriend sell fried chicken near Baimagang. “I love food and often experiment with recipes. At night, I make fried chicken and run a small business,” he said.

Guo Yingxin has completed the Guangdong Football Association’s C-level coaching training course. Looking ahead, he has a clear career plan: “I will steadily follow my set path step by step, hoping to become an outstanding youth football coach, contribute to China’s football youth training, nurture the future of Chinese football, and do my bit for the sport.”

It is reported that the other two young men who helped with the rescue are Lei Jiayi, born in 2002, a resident doctor at the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University; and Huang Yefan, born in 1998, who works in e-commerce operations in Guangzhou. When talking about the rescue, they said, “If we see something like this, we would act as well.”