Injured woman who saved three people from carnage of highway pile-up which killed her boyfriend plans traditional marriage ritual in his memory. — SCMP
A woman in Taiwan who rescued three people from the mangled wreckage of a car accident but failed to save her boyfriend will hold a ghost marriage to help care for his grieving mother.
Two people died and five others were injured in a four-car pile-up on a highway in Taiwan on July 15.
Two siblings, surnamed Hong, were trapped inside the vehicle in which they were travelling. They were rushed to hospital but succumbed to their injuries.
The girlfriend of one of them, surnamed Yu, was also in the car.
She recalled the heartbreak of seeing her boyfriend, his sister, and another friend trapped in the mangled wreckage.
Despite suffering injuries to her leg, she tried her best to rescue them but could not. Yu could only pull a friend from the back seat and then rescued two passengers from another car involved in the accident.
She said that despite saving three people, her greatest regret was not being able to save her loved one and his sister, according to Taiwanese news network ETtoday.
To honour her boyfriend, Yu plans to hold a ghost marriage with him and take care of his elderly mother on his behalf.
Ghost marriages for the deceased are a 3,000-year-old custom in China.
Some elderly people believe that if people die without fulfilling their wishes, such as getting married, they will not find peace in the afterlife.
The living person participates in the ghost marriage and uses the deceased’s photo, worn clothes and other items to represent them. The ceremony follows traditional wedding customs.
Yu’s story has touched many people on social media.
“This brave woman thinking of saving others in a crisis is remarkable,” said one commenter on Instagram.
“Her sense of responsibility and love for her boyfriend and his family is moving. Ghost marriage can be a form of spiritual comfort,” said another.
In China, there are two other types of ghost marriages.
One involves couples who died before or after engagement, with parents holding a wedding and burying them together.
The other involves individuals who did not know each other while alive, with matchmakers arranging their marriage after death.
Ghost marriages are also prevalent in Chinese communities across Asia.
In May, a Chinese couple in Malaysia died in a car accident, and their grieving families held a ghost marriage ceremony for them. – South China Morning Post
