Officials with the Bao'an District Government in Shenzhen awarded a 14-year-old primary school student Monday for his heroism in rescuing a drowning 2-year-old boy from a pond.

The boy, who was saved by Lu Lai, a fifth grader at the Guantian Primary School, died later in hospital. Lu was devastated by the boy's death. "If someone had acted earlier, the boy wouldn't have died," Lu said.

The accident happened at around 3 PM Saturday in the Guantian community, Bao'an District. The boy fell into the pond, which was below a pavilion. Lu, who was playing nearby, ran to the pavilion after hearing the boy's mother crying and jumped into the pond without hesitation.

"The boy's body was heavy," Lu said. "Just when I was about to sink, a policeman swam over and took the boy from me." The boy was sent to hospital for emergency treatment but doctors couldn't revive him.

Lu's family said he had saved a person in Sichuan Province when he was 12 years old.

(Shenzhen Daily January 12, 2006)