Vietnamese worker honored for saving drowning man in Japan

Can Do Trien received the honor granted by the Police Station in Koka City on Nov. 16, Japanese news site Asahi reported.

Trien, 35, was taking a walk near Daichi-ji Temple in the city on Oct. 22.

As he passed by a swamp, he saw an old Japanese man raising his hand to call for help.

Trien could not pull the man out himself. However, as he could not speak Japanese well enough to tell others what the situation was, he took a picture of the old Japanese man with his smartphone.

He then ran around looking for help, finding two high-school boys.

He showed them the picture and they dialed the police hotline at once.

After making the phone call, the three rushed back to the old man. Together, they held his hands and calmed him down while waiting for help.

Firefighters arrived shortly after and pulled the man, who is 80, out of the swamp.

According to Koga City Police Station, the man’s injuries were not life-threatening.

They also said this is the first time ever that they have granted a letter of appreciation written in Vietnamese.

Trien is from Hanoi and came to Japan in 2018 following a technical intern training program.

He is currently working at Yatsushiro Seisakusho, a metal processing company in Koka and the day of the incident was his day off.

Trien was actually walking around to take some photos of the scenery in Japan and send them to his eight-year-old daughter and five-year-old son in Vietnam.

As scheduled, he will return home by the end of this year.

According to the Immigration Services Agency of Japan, there are nearly 433,000 Vietnamese people currently living in this country, accounting for 15.7% of foreigners in Japan.