Lonely senior calls the police for company

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An 80-year-old senior from southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality called police on Wednesday, leaving nothing but her address. Failed calling her back, two police officers, Li Qiang and Xia Feng, were dispatched to save the caller whom they assumed has been facing life-threatening danger and was cut out from outside.

Li said they made it to the address, fully equipped, only to find a senior female who welcomed them with a kind smile. The granny offered them drinks, admitted she called the police but kept silent about what the police officers could help her with.

Photo via Chongqing Business Daily

Li and Xia then ceased asking her and decided to sit down and listen. To their surprise, what they did actually satisfied her need.

The granny, surnamed Zhang, said her husband died of cancer several years ago and her children and relatives were all busy working out their own lives. It finally dawned on the police officers that all the trifling of Zhang was because of her loneliness.

As they called to confirm, Zhang’s granddaughter Xiaoyan admitted her grandmother kept talking to people via telephone after her husband died. Though Zhang’s children offered to take Zhang home so she can live with her family, Zhang refused. She decided not to slow the pace of the youngsters. Besides, she would still be alone when her children were out for work.

Xiaoyan promised that she’d visit her granny the second day. The police officers kept Zhang accompanied until they were summoned for another mission.

The sad but heart-warming news has received different views online. Some accused Zhang of public source abuse, while some showed sympathy.

According to a research by the China National Committee on Aging, between 2015 and 2035, there will be an annual increase of 10 million seniors. The proportion of elderly who live alone in midsize and large cities has reached 70 percent. This has placed a significant strain on the health care and social security systems.