OHIO (KRON) — It’s today’s classic love story.
American boy meets girl on the internet. Boy travels 7,000 miles to China to meet girl. Girl decides she’s not interested.
Lovelorn boy then gets drunk, loses all of his money, and is found unconscious and suffering from hypothermia after falling into the Xu River — presumably to find other fish.
Authorities in China say an 18-year-old Ohio boy, known only as Pratt, fell in love with a Chinese girl after first finding her photos online. He told police that he didn’t know her real name, the Daily Mail reported.
The boy promised the girl he would visit her but she may not have taken him seriously until he suddenly turned up in Jiangshan, according to police.
The Daily Mail reported that detectives confirmed the teen tried to call the girl several times but was told to leave her alone, and his number was blocked. That’s when he became depressed about the rejection and started drinking.
Police found him later lying next to the Xu River in pretty bad shape.
“He was unconscious and lying in a pool of his own vomit. It looks as if he might have fallen in the water at some stage as his clothes and shoes were soaked. To be honest he was so inebriated, he could easily have drowned. It was only a short distance to the water,” a Cheng Bei Police Station spokesperson was quoted on Qianjiang TV.
Police tracked down the girl but she refused to see him despite learning about his near-death experience.
The hotel manager where Pratt was staying heard about his heartbreak and let him stay for free.
A police spokesperson said the boy has since recovered and was on a plane to Ohio.