Final heroic trek forged in mud, sweat

The high-speed train didn't stop at Meishan East Railway Station on that sweltering July afternoon. It was Dang Xinrui's last ride as a railwayman.

His father Dang Qing accompanied his son's ashes on the train on July 19 as it passed the platform of the station where the 29-year-old had worked.

Some uniformed station staff wept openly as they stood in a line saluting as the train swept by.

Dang Qing said he chose the rail route "so his son could be a railway worker one final time".

While on vacation, Dang Xinrui volunteered to carry supplies on foot to villages cut off by flooding in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. He collapsed and died of heart failure caused by heat and exhaustion on July 14 while returning from a village where he and other volunteers had delivered medicine, vegetables and other supplies.

After his body was cremated, his father took his remains from Guangxi to the family home in Chengdu, Sichuan province.

"I knew he would join the disaster relief, but I never imagined I would lose him," Dang Qing told CCTV.

"What comforts me most is that he spent his final days doing something he truly loved and something meaningful. That makes me proud."

Dang's tale has also touched tens of millions of netizens, with many hailing him as a relatable hero.