In China’s Hunan province, a woman fainted on the street on the 12th, and a passing man helped her by performing CPR, only for netizens to accuse him of groping her chest. Some even asked, “Why not have a woman perform it instead?” The man responded that the situation was urgent and there was no time to consider gender.
According to Chinese media reports, the incident took place on a street in Hengyang, Hunan, where a woman suddenly fainted. A passerby surnamed Deng decisively performed CPR on her, with another woman assisting in the emergency. The woman eventually regained consciousness and was sent to the hospital. What should have been a good deed was instead twisted by online public opinion as groping; some questioned, “Why not have a woman do the compressions?”
In response, many netizens criticized, saying, “If one day I unfortunately faint, kind-hearted people, please don’t hesitate, press anywhere you think is needed, as long as you can save my life!”, “The patient herself didn’t say anything; it’s you netizens who are making a fuss,” “Those who question this can just go die,” and “People with such thoughts, if you ever need treatment by a doctor of the opposite sex, just don’t get treated and wait to die.”
Deng replied that the situation at that moment was too urgent, and he was only focused on saving her life—there was no time to consider issues of gender.
According to a survey previously released by St John Ambulance in the UK, women are less likely to receive bystander CPR, as people worry about accusations of sexual harassment from touching the chest or worry that women’s bodies are “fragile” and might suffer broken ribs. (News source: CTWANT)