"At the last moment, he still tried to push me towards the shore. If it weren't for him, our family would be ruined..." said 65-year-old Fan Chunquan who was saved from drowning in a pond in Changsha, Central China's Hunan province.

It was an ordinary Saturday for Hu Guangyue, 68, who liked to drive to a field near a pond in Lianhuashan village in Xiangjiang district of the city. On July 1, he did some farm work in this part of the field where he planted some peanuts.

"Old Hu, do you want some cucumber?" 63-year-old Chen Chunzhi, who was in a vegetable plot near the pond, said to Hu as he finished his work and was headed toward his car to leave around 10 am.

"No, thanks." Hu stepped into his car.

However, it was at then that Chen discovered that her 5-year-old grandson Xiaokai disappeared. Looking around, Chen saw the boy in the pond and struggling to stay afloat.

"Help! Help!" Chen shouted loudly. However, few people were present so she jumped into the pond herself to save the boy, but she did not know how to swim.

Hearing the shouting, Hu left his car and ran to the pond.

"Hu also does not know how to swim, and he shouted for help, but few people were there. Chen and her grandson were in danger. He didn't hesitate to jump into the water to save them," said Zhang Hongchao, a Party member of the village.

Zhang shared some photos that showed the old man putting his belongings like his mobile phone, slippers and straw hat on the pond shore.

Villagers Huang Xiaozhao and Li Jinxuan heard the shouting and they witnessed Hu's brave behavior and were inspired to help. Li brought a long bamboo pole from home.

"Hu pushed Chen to the shore and turned to Xiaokai. In the pond, he lifted the boy allowing him to breathe, but Hu's head was under water with only his hair visible on the surface," Li said.

Li and Huang used the pole to pull Chen to the shore.

At this moment, Hu's physical strength was exhausted, but he still desperately supported Xiaokai.

Fan Chunquan, the grandpa of Xiaokai, arrived at the site and he jumped in to the water. "I also do not know how to swim. In the pond, I felt my strength was not enough. Hu pushed Xiaokai to me and other people drew him to the shore."

Hu gave Fan the last push, but causing himself to drift further away.

Zhou Shulin, a motorcyclist who passed by, jumped into the water and dragged Hu to the shore. Zhou offered emergency aid, but it was too late to save Hu's life.

"I am truly grateful to him," said Fan who wore a black veil on her arm while she talked about the story by the pond on Monday.

Hu Bo, the third daughter of Hu Guangyue, said that her father was a kind man, and when people asked him for help, he would always offer his hand.