A soldier in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region has been named a martyr for sacrificing his own life to save a maintenance worker from a sewage well. A road in his garrison has also been named in his honor.

Miao Jian, who served in a battalion of the People's Armed Police Force, was also posthumously awarded a first-class merit for his deeds and recognized as a member of the Communist Party of China.

Born in 2000 in Guyuan, Ningxia, Miao enlisted in September 2020. On Aug 2, as Miao and four fellow soldiers ran past a sewage well in Weijiaqiao village in Yinchuan city, they heard a maintenance worker calling for help for her coworker, who'd fallen into the well.

Miao and Zhou Yan, another soldier, quickly descended into the well to rescue the worker, who was already unconscious, while asking the three other soldiers to get more help. Miao attempted to drag the worker out of the sewage water, but as the worker's body was moving up and down unconsciously with water, Miao lost his balance and fell into the water.

In the dire situation, Miao lifted the worker out of the water to help him breathe better. He kept that position despite himself being almost submerged, while Zhou tried to hook them both onto a chain inside the well.

However, as the well lacked oxygen, Zhou fell unconscious and collapsed on the platform, and Miao sank into the water.

Despite the other soldiers returning quickly with more help, they were only able to save Zhou and the trapped worker surnamed Cui. Miao had died by the time he was dragged out of the well.

"Workers who fall into sewage water like me rarely survive," said Cui. "I would have died if it weren't for them."

Zhou, who received medical treatment and recovered, said: "At that moment, the responsibility of a soldier gave me just a single thought — to rescue the person in distress. I always wondered, if I were stronger and fell unconscious a bit later, I wouldn't have lost my grip and he would have been saved."

Miao and Zhou were named Advanced Individuals for Being Good Samaritans by the Jinfeng district government of Yinchuan. The Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee included Miao in a list of altruistic heroes for the third quarter of this year.

On Aug 23, when Miao's funeral was held in Guyuan, thousands of people lined the streets to commemorate him.

In his garrison, a road was named Miao Jian Road, and soldiers composed a song paying homage to him.

Ding Guangyao, Miao's deputy battalion leader, said that their deeds demonstrated a lasting spirit of heroism in their battalion, underlined by a list of honorees adorning the garrison honor room. The list includes dozens of soldiers who have rescued common people in dire situations, such as traffic accidents and fires. "In such a situation, no one is afraid of descending into the well, they were only afraid of not being able to save those in danger," Ding said.

Lei Tiefei, Wang Zhuo and Li Rui contributed to this story.