Love and courage in China: doctor’s marrow donation saves stranger, artist loves ‘big white’ volunteers, woman travels 800km to give son food
- A doctor in China donates his bone marrow to save the life of a 21-year-old woman he does not know with a blood disease
- An artist creates ‘big white’ figurines to honour Covid volunteers, a familiar sight in their white hazmat suits
A doctor in eastern China has donated his bone marrow to save the life of a 21-year-old woman with a blood disease.
The 49-year-old doctor, Lu Simeng, a clinical laboratory doctor from Huaian in Jiangsu, eastern China, is one of the first hematopoietic stem cell donation volunteers in the city. He registered to become a donor back in 2006, Jiangsu TV reported.
Last year, he was informed that he was a suitable match for a patient with a blood disease. However, he could not donate his marrow immediately as he had recently undergone kidney surgery.
After the surgery, he exercised a lot to recover his health as quickly as possible for the bone marrow donation at the beginning of this month.
“As a doctor, I know that marrow donation will not do any damage to my body. For patients, marrow donation is a life extension,” Lu said. “I wish to spread this message of love to the public.”
Woman loves the ‘big white’ volunteers
A woman in central China has created “big white” art figurines to honour Covid volunteers.
On the mainland, Covid volunteers are often affectionately called “big white” for the easily spotted white hazmat suits they have to wear.
Pang Bijiang, a dough modelling artist from Henan, central China, said she wanted to do what she could to express her gratitude for the volunteers, The Paper reported.
“The coronavirus outbreaks are here. The ‘big whites’ have to work very hard while wearing protective suits,” Pang said. “I can’t imagine how hot they must feel in this kind of clothing in summer.”
The woman said she planned to make 100 figurines to send to the volunteers in her city and hoped that the coronavirus pandemic would be over soon.
Old woman travels 800km to deliver food to son in Shanghai
An old woman has travelled 800km to deliver 250kg of food to her son in Shanghai, thinking her son’s family would have difficulty getting supplies due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions.
The mother took a coach from her hometown in Kaifeng in Henan, central China, to Shanghai at the end of July, Henan TV reported.
She packed cooking oil, flour, fresh vegetables, fruit, pickled garlic and cooked pastry in her luggage.
“I think she has brought everything she could from home,” said her daughter-in-law.
The woman said her mother-in-law chose to take a coach, rather than a train, as the rail authority did not allow her to bring such a large amount of luggage.
“She thought we still lived a hard life because of the Covid-19 restrictions. She said she felt sad for us and didn’t know when she would visit us next time. So she took with her as much food as possible,” the daughter-in-law said.
