Mr Doan Van Hoa, Deputy Head of the Movement Board of the Da Nang Red Cross Society, is affectionately known as "Mr Hoa with warm blood" by voluntary blood donors. He is a pioneer in establishing and vigorously promoting the voluntary blood donation movement in the city.

Stemming from his charitable work, enthusiasm, community spirit, and the family tradition of "the good leaves protect the worn-out leaves" Mr Hoa has made significant and meaningful contributions to society.

Mr Hoa first donated blood voluntarily at the Youth Union of Quang Nam - Da Nang Province in 1993. At that time, he noticed that blood supplies in hospitals were critically low, prompting him to start encouraging people to donate blood voluntarily.

"The initial days were tough because people were afraid that donating blood would affect their health. I had to visit every corner of wards, communes, businesses, religious organisations, and universities to promote voluntary blood donation" Mr Hoa reminisced.

During a work trip to the Da Nang Oncology Hospital, we met Mr Hoa in area C after many years. However, we were surprised by his youthful energy, even though he was over 50 years old.

After a while, Mr Hoa showed me a piece of paper filled with phone numbers of key volunteers for emergency blood donation situations. He explained that he kept the list handy to make quick calls during urgent cases, especially when rare blood types were needed or during the night, as searching through his phone would be time-consuming and patients couldn’t wait long.

Throughout our conversation, Mr Hoa's phone kept ringing. "For patients, those drops of blood represent hope, so my phone is always ready to coordinate blood donation activities," he shared the reason.

When asked about the most memorable incident in his over 30-year career related to patients' health and blood transfusions, Mr Hoa immediately mentioned the derailment of train E1 in Lang Co Town, Phu Loc District, Thua Thien - Hue Province in 2005.

In that incident, the victims were brought to the Da Nang Hospital for emergency treatment. The hospital did not have enough blood units to supply the patients, so he directly contacted volunteers with different blood groups to provide timely assistance. At that time, his phone was working at full capacity to mobilise all the "warm blood banks" he knew.

Mr Hoa's dedication to voluntary blood donation extended beyond Da Nang. He often rented vehicles and found people with compatible blood types in Da Nang to support hospitals in Hue.

"Blood donation should not be confined to one locality but should be spread and support other areas when necessary because human health and life are paramount and most precious," Mr Hoa added.

Reporting by MINH AN - Translating by TRUC VY