Sep 24 (Agencies): A young nurse has been named the 'prettiest bride' by Chinese media after trying to save a man.

Guo Yuanyuan, 25, was shooting her wedding photos on a beach in Dalian, north east China, on September 21 when she heard a man had drowned.

She rushed to the scene and tried to resuscitate the man, reported People's Daily Online.

He was dragged to shore but his pulse had stopped.

Wearing her beautiful dress, she rushed to his side and began CPR.

For 20 minutes she battled to save his life, but sadly the man did not regain consciousness.

Witnesses say that they spotted a man, who remains unidentified, in the sea who was waving and shouting for help around 10am on September 21.

Several swimmers on the beach swam out and managed to the pull the man, who was already sinking, from the waters.

When they reached the beach, the man was already unconscious.

Mr Zhao, one of the rescuers, said: 'At the time his lips had gone purple and his face was going blue. It seemed like he had a sudden heart attack.'

As a crowd gathered around the man, it appeared that no one knew how to perform CPR.

About 100 feet away, Guo Yuanyuan, who was a cardiac nurse at a local hospital, happened to be shooting her wedding photographs on the same beach.

Without thinking, she jumped off a three foot ledge and rushed to the scene while still wearing her wedding gown.

She then proceeded to perform CPR on the man as well as giving him mouth to mouth resuscitation for over 20 minutes.

In the process of saving the man, Guo had ruined her wedding dress, spoilt her make-up and broke her nails.

Despite her sorry state, witnesses applauded the nurse's determination.

However, when the ambulance eventually arrived, paramedics found it was too late to save the man.

Heart attack has been confirmed as the cause.

Guo's fiancé, named as Xiao Liu, proudly revealed: 'She enjoy helping people normally and that's what I like about her.'

He also said she had run faster than him when the incident occurred.

Images of the nurse saving the man quickly spread across Chinese social media where she was given the title of the 'prettiest bride'.

Guo said of the incident, 'At that time, I only remember that I was a nurse. My career's responsibilities are higher than that of a bride.'