Chinese woman rescued after writing blood plea from locked room

In a quiet part of Sichuan province, China, what began as an ordinary day for a guesthouse cleaner named Ms. Zhou quickly spiraled into a nightmare that would test her strength, endurance — and her will to survive.

Zhou, a woman in her 30s, was going about her daily duties cleaning rooms in a modest guesthouse. It was nothing unusual. On that particular day, she entered room 625, located on the sixth floor, to tidy up. As she stepped inside, the heavy door swung closed behind her — and locked.

She didn't think much of it at first. But when she tried to open it moments later, the handle wouldn't budge. The lock had malfunctioned, and with no phone in her pocket, no one else nearby, and the windows barred or too high to climb out, Zhou was completely trapped.

Time crawled. Hours turned into a full day. Zhou was stuck inside without food, water, or even access to a toilet. She shouted. She pounded on the door. She tried everything she could to get the attention of someone — anyone — in the building.

But no help came.

The longer she was trapped, the more desperate she became. She had nothing to write with, no working phone, and nobody knew she was in that room. She was invisible. Forgotten.

That's when she made a decision that would save her life.

With nothing else to use, Zhou did something unthinkable: she bit into her own finger, drawing blood. Using it as ink, she scrawled a message onto a pillowcase:

"110 625"

It was a short but powerful cry for help:

• "110" is the emergency number in China — like 911 in the U.S.

• "625" was the room number she was trapped in.

She shoved the pillow through a crack in the window and threw it down, hoping that someone would see it — and understand.

Down below, fate intervened. A food delivery driver, Zhang Kun, happened to be passing through the area. He noticed something strange on the ground: a pillow with red writing on it.

Curious and concerned, Zhang picked it up. When he saw the number "110", alarm bells went off. He realized this might be a distress signal, and he immediately called the police.

Zhou's life was now in the hands of a stranger who had the presence of mind to act on a hunch.

Police and emergency responders arrived shortly after. Using the information from the pillow, they quickly made their way to room 625. When they broke open the door, they found Zhou — exhausted, dehydrated, but alive.

She had been trapped for more than 30 hours.

Authorities praised the food delivery driver for his quick thinking, and Zhou was given medical attention. She had suffered no serious injuries, but her story left many shaken and deeply moved.

The incident sparked discussions online in China about building safety, worker protection, and emergency preparedness. Zhou, meanwhile, became a symbol of quiet courage — someone who, through sheer willpower and ingenuity, survived an ordeal most would struggle to imagine.

In a world where cries for help are often ignored or go unseen, Zhou's message — written not in ink, but in blood — was powerful enough to break through the silence.

And someone was watching.