Holding a strong desire to help others, many kind-hearted residents in Da Nang have always directly participated in emergency blood donation drives to save as many lives as they can. Understanding how important and noble blood donations are, they keep in their minds that with just some of their donated blood units, they can help save one person on the narrow ledge between life and death.

Many local residents have enthusiastically participated in voluntary blood donation drives. A male teacher at the Tran Phu Senior High School donates his blood to save lives. Photo: LE VAN THOM

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hien from Hoa Phat Ward, Cam Le District, the Chairman of Ban Mai Xanh in-demand blood donation club, said that, she and other club members have always put aside their personal errands to give blood to much-needed patients whenever they receive an urgent call from the Da Nang Oncology Hospital, regardless of how far they have to go and whether it is during the daytime or at night, even at odd hours, of course.

On average, this club’s members donate a combined total of more than 2,000 units of blood each year. Hien alone has made blood donations 24 times to save patients.

The kind-hearted woman has enthusiastically participated in regular voluntary blood donation campaigns, and has willingly given in response to urgent appeals from local hospitals.

It is more praiseworthy as she vowed to keep giving his blood until she cannot.

In particular, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Thanh Quy from An Hai Tay Ward, Son Tra District, an officer of the Institute of Transport Science and Technology has given away his precious blood to save lives 39 times.

Not only is Quy always on standby in case his blood is needed for emergency medical use but he has also coordinated seamlessly activities for the club’s faithful donors to make sure the much-needed fluid gets to the right person promptly.

The regular blood donor has recently been awarded a certificate of merit by the Chairman of the municipal People's Committee for their good deeds.

Quy underscored that giving blood is an act of charity honouring the love of humanity, and the precious blood drops will save many lives. He always feels very happy when he shares the joys and sorrows of life with others in life.

“Blood donations do not harm my health at all; by contras, I even feel better”, said Quy.

There are 7 blood donation clubs with a combined total of more than 3,000 members across Da Nang.The clubs’ managers always compile a list of members with their phone numbers, addresses, blood types and their previous blood donation. More and more people have actively participated in voluntary blood donation activities.

The “Warm Blood- Understanding and Loving’ Club now has more than 1,000 members, making donations of blood to hospitals in Da Nang and the neighbouring provinces of Quang Nam. In the first half of this year, the club’s voluntary unpaid blood donors presented a total of nearly 900 units of blood to the hospitals.

For the time being, Da Nang has exceeded humanitarian blood donation targets, and become one of the Vietnamese localities with the highest number of blood donors in the country, accounting for over 3% of its population.

Since the beginning of 2020, under the negative impacts of COVID-19, Da Nang has still mobilised more than 43,000 blood units, meeting the treatment needs of citywide hospitals.

According to Doctor Doan Thi Cam Nhung from the Department of Hematology - Blood Transfusion at the Da Nang General Hospital, in the summer, the demand for blood for emergency and treatment often climbs up. Therefore, voluntary blood donation activities need to be strengthened, and at the same time, importance should be attached to developing volunteer blood donors.

Chairwoman of the Da Nang Red Cross Society Le Thi Nhu Hong said, “In the coming time, the association will mobilise voluntary blood donors, thus making this noble act more and more deeply embedded in the local people's lives”.

Reporting by LE VAN THOM – Translating by A.T