The 'heroes' on the Red Journey

Photo caption — Mr. Nguyen Minh Ngoc ( Nam Dinh ward) during a voluntary blood donation.

Give to revive life

After each blood donation, the blood donation software on the phone of Mr. Nguyen Minh Ngoc, 28 years old, a worker at Youngone Nam Dinh Limited Liability Company ( Ninh Binh province) starts counting down to the next time he can donate blood. The increasing number of blood donations means that he has contributed to saving more patients in need of blood.

Mr. Ngoc shared that with the Blood Donation Software of the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, he can register, track his history, search for blood donation locations, look up test results and track his blood unit journey. This helps his “red journey” to be continuous and sustainable.

Mr. Ngoc said that his blood donation journey began when he was a second-year student at Hanoi University of Industry. With the enthusiastic spirit of a student, he donated 350ml. After donating blood for the first time, he felt extremely excited and enthusiastic. Realizing that blood donation is a meaningful and attractive job, Mr. Ngoc proactively joined the Industrial Blood Team A of the Youth Association for Blood Donation 1/12 of Hanoi city. From here, while studying, he also arranged time with the team to participate in propaganda and blood donation.

Mr. Ngoc said that his team often supports the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion. Here, he witnessed many difficult situations of patients, especially pediatric patients. The need for blood transfusion is high, especially during times like Tet and summer when the reserve supply is not enough, directly threatening the lives of patients. He understands that mobilizing blood donations is the only way to reserve blood resources and save patients from critical situations.

Every 3 months, Ngoc donates blood. He donates anywhere, anytime when his body allows. Along with donating blood, he actively encourages friends and people around him to donate blood voluntarily. “Donating blood is the simplest thing that anyone can do. For a healthy person, 1 unit of blood can regenerate quickly, and for someone in need of blood, that unit of blood can revive a life,” Ngoc confided.

After finishing school, Mr. Ngoc returned to his hometown in Nam Dinh ward, working at Youngone Nam Dinh Limited Liability Company. While working, he also arranged his time reasonably to go to the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion to donate blood voluntarily. Later, he joined the Nam Dinh Red Cross Volunteer Team, donating blood, participating in propaganda, mobilizing, and supporting blood receptions in the province.

Over the past 10 years, Mr. Ngoc has donated blood 38 times. The more he participates in this movement, the more he realizes that there are many young people who think the same and have creative and enthusiastic ways of working with the community. This is the motivation for him to try harder, promote the responsibility of the young generation to society and strongly spread this movement to the community. In 2025, Nguyen Minh Ngoc was honored as one of the 100 outstanding voluntary blood donors nationwide.

Spreading blood donation culture in the community

Having donated whole blood 36 times and platelets 15 times, Mr. Vu Manh Linh, Captain of the Nam Dinh Red Cross Volunteer Team (Ninh Binh province) is considered a pioneer in the voluntary blood donation movement of Ninh Binh.

Mr. Linh said that in 2010, when he was a student at Nam Dinh Textile and Garment College, he donated blood for the first time and from then on, he became involved in this movement. On average, he donates blood 3-4 times a year and registered to become an emergency blood donor.

Mr. Linh recalls that one winter evening in 2015, he suddenly received a phone call from Nam Dinh General Hospital informing him that there was a critical case requiring blood type B+ for urgent transfusion. Without hesitation, he immediately went to the hospital to donate blood. A few days later, he was informed by the hospital that thanks to timely emergency blood transfusion, the patient had overcome the critical stage. “From then on, I realized that in order to save patients, in addition to doctors, there are also us. We can save people by donating blood. This is the simplest thing that can be done anytime, anywhere,” Mr. Linh confided.

In addition to donating whole blood, he also actively donates platelets. Mr. Linh explained that while donating whole blood only takes about 15 minutes, donating platelets requires about 60-100 minutes for each blood donation. The donor's blood will be put directly into the blood cell separator system. This machine has the task of separating platelets into storage bags, the remaining blood components will be returned to the body. Each platelet donation will be about 1 month apart. Donating platelets only takes away one blood component and people can donate many times without affecting their health.

In 2016, Vu Manh Linh joined and was trusted to become the Captain of the Nam Dinh Red Cross Volunteer Team. Realizing that people are still hesitant about voluntary blood donation, as a "leader", he and other volunteers flexibly and creatively created effective propaganda methods such as distributing leaflets, propagating at public places, mobilizing people to participate, following blood donation propaganda groups on Facebook and Zalo to call for, grasp the needs, explain to people about blood donation and help people monitor blood collection points in the province.

Since then, blood donation has gradually become a movement, the number of people registering to donate blood at blood collection sessions has increased day by day. The Nam Dinh Red Cross Volunteer Team has also grown steadily as more and more young people have registered to participate. Currently, the team has about 30 members including students, workers and freelancers. Every third Sunday of the month, the Team coordinates with Nam Dinh General Hospital to organize a regular blood donation program to supplement the hospital's blood supply and strongly spread the movement to all classes of people.

Mr. Tran Phuoc Thang, Vice Chairman of the Ninh Binh Provincial Red Cross Society, said that in recent years, people's awareness of voluntary blood donation has been raised, reflected in the increasing number of participants at blood collection events. From the beginning of 2025 to now, the whole province has organized more than 70 blood donation events attracting nearly 30,000 participants, receiving over 22,700 units of blood. This result is due to the spread of typical blood donors, the core of the movement, and at the same time, the propaganda and mobilization work has been promoted by units, clubs and teams, contributing to spreading the culture of blood donation in the community.

According to the Vice President of the Ninh Binh Provincial Red Cross, after the two-level local government came into operation, the Association has instructed units to organize and perfect the Blood Donation Mobilization Committee at the commune and ward levels. From here, the Mobilization Committees will implement propaganda plans, coordinate with relevant units to organize blood reception sessions with the goal that by 2025, the province will receive 39,800 units of blood or more, contributing to the supply of blood banks, ready to meet medical needs and treat patients.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/nguoi-tot-viec-tot/nhung-nguoi-hung-tren-hanh-trinh-do-20250920090620621.htm