American missionary woman's act of compassion wins Taiwan hearts

She and her husband, both members of the international Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, had moved to Taiwan from the U.S. in 2001 to work on a new building for their church.

But, while crossing a road in Shihlin last month, Dick Beauvais was hit by a motorcycle.

“I thought my husband would die...and my grief was so deep, there was no bottom,” Beauvais recalls.

She could have turned and blamed the youth responsible, but instead she comforted the panic-stricken boy.

Her seriously injured husband had not been using the crosswalk, Beauvais says. So she would not sue.

With that decision, she became the center of an island-wide media frenzy that wanted to know why.

Why did she not press charges? Why did she not accept the money the boy’s family offered?

“Because I have love in my heart,” Beauvais replies. “In a city where many such accidents occur and the motorcyclist does not stop to help the victim, I could see that he (the motorcyclist) was a good boy, and I didn’t want to increase his pain.”

Her reaction touched viewers and readers across the island, and a steady flow of cards, flowers and letters poured into the hospital room where the couple stayed until this week.

But the most grateful of all may be Ma Mei Fang, the boy’s mother.

The hairdresser remembers feeling doomed when she received the Nov. 14 call informing her that her son, Eddie Jiang, had hit an American.

“I knew this would affect Eddie’s future, and because he hit an American, we would probably have to pay for it the rest of our lives no matter who caused the accident,” she said.

So when she arrived at the scene of the accident on Fu Lin Road, Ma repeated one of the only English phrases she knew over and over: “I’m sorry.”

“Mrs. Beauvais told me in Chinese not to worry, that the accident wasn’t Eddie’s fault,” a teary Ma recalls. “She told him she didn’t want our money, that he would need it to study, and that we needed to spread love instead.”

To show her appreciation, Ma took food to the Shin Kong Memorial Hospital each day as Beauvais’ husband regained consciousness and received treatment for a broken foot and traumatic head injury.

Eddie, a student at the Taipei High School, accompanied his mother on nights and weekends.

Beauvais says she now considers the boy her “Chinese grandson” and hopes he one day will visit her in the U.S.

Seeing Beauvais on the evening news caused Amy Chen of Taipei to weep for nearly an hour.

Chen says she had lost all hope in humanity ever since she was insulted, sued and fined some NT$120,000 for an accident in which she struck a school boy earlier this year.

“I’ve imagined that there were such compassionate people, but I’ve never met one,” Chen says. “I knew I had to rush over to the hospital and thank Linda for giving me hope again.”

Beauvais greeted Chen at the hospital and listened for nearly half an hour while Chen described how the lawsuit from a similar accident had nearly drove her to suicide.

“We need more stories like this in Taiwan, because society has become twisted and a lot of people see an injury as a way to demand money even if they were in the wrong,” Chen says.

Judging by the support the couple has received from followers of several faiths outside their own, many would agree.

“The fact that their decision made the news is a sad reflection on society,” says Wendy Lai of Taipei, a Buddhist. “But it’s nice to know some people practice what they preach.”

Today, Dick is still making visits to the hospital. The couple must now decide whether to return home to the U.S. or stay and finish the job they started.

The building they came to construct is scheduled for completion in October 2004.

“He wants to stay, and I will bend to his wishes,” she says. “Since Dick was a little boy in the Catholic Church, he’s dreamed of building cathedrals, and this building — which will be the last one of his career — is fulfilling a dream.”

But for now, they are resting in their sixth floor Taipei apartment and anticipating a slow, but full recovery. Beauvais’ husband will need a doctor’s clearance before returning to work or traveling.

Beauvais has written her own account of the accident and those who helped in its aftermath. It is called “The Taiwan Blessings Book,” and she will post it online in both English and Chinese in coming weeks.

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