This week, Kang Kang (pseudonym), a 24-year-old student from School of Pharmacy, Tongji Medical College of HUST, showed us what selflessness is. On April 11, after a 5-hour medical procedure in Kunming, she became China’s 19,801st hematopoietic stem cell donor—and the 201st from Inner Mongolia and her donation saved the life of a blood disease patient.

A Birthday Pledge Turns into a Lifesaving Mission

The journey began on October 13, 2023—Kang’s birthday—when she became a volunteer of China Bone Marrow Registry Program when a blood drive was held in her college campus. “As a medical student, I see this as my obligation,” she said after learning in February 2024 that she was a rare compatible candidate donor for a bone marrow recipient. Initially, her parents expressed some concerns, Kang convinced her family: “Saving a life is worth any risk.”

From Hospital Bed to Classroom: “My Kids Need Me”

Within 24 hours of her donation, Kang boarded a train to Lincang City in Yunnan Province, where she teaches math to 50 first-graders as a member of HUST’s Graduate Student Teaching Corps. “I’ll tell my students how science gave someone a second life,” said Kang, who postponed her graduate program to join the rural education initiative in 2023.

Here, we would like to mention the other feats she performed:

· She led her class to win a 2024 school choir competition.

· She partnered with other pharmacy students in pen-pal projects that help build up connections between urban and rural young people.

· She launched “AI Dream Labs” at village centers, encouraging children to explore the world of sciences and technologies.