Love and Blood Donation without Boundaries

Dr. Maskay from Shanghai United Family Hospital selected as one of the Top 10 Public Welfare Stories in Shanghai for 2019

The 2019 Public Welfare Awards Grand Ceremony was held recently, jointly sponsored by the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau, Shanghai Public Welfare New Media Center, SMG Rongmedia Center, SMG Oriental Broadcasting Center and SMG Technology Operations Center. This year in Shanghai, six advanced lists of public welfare were finally revealed. Dr. Ashish Maskay, a Nepalese surgeon in Shanghai United Family Hospital, was named as one of the Top 10 Charity Stories.

Dr. Ashish Maskay is an orthopedic surgeon in Shanghai United Family Hospital. Along with his medical degree, Dr. Maskay also has a Master’s degree in English, Mandarin, Hindi, and Nepali. Dr. Maskay was born to a doctor in Kathmandu, Nepal. As a pulmonary doctor, his father often waived the medical expenses of underprivileged people, which planted the seeds of kindness in Dr. Maskay’s heart during his childhood. Later on in life, Dr. Maskay chose to follow in his father’s footsteps and became a doctor. For Dr. Maskay, helping others became his fundamental life principle. As result, donating blood is an important way for him to help others.

Saving lives regardless of national boundaries, and giving love regardless of nationality, Dr. Maskay came to Shanghai to continue his studies and work. He also donated blood to residents of the city. As a surgeon, Dr. Maskay understands the importance of blood to patients. In his spare time, he not only took on an active role in voluntary blood donation activities, but also became an advocate of voluntary blood donation. During his more than ten years of living and working in Shanghai, he has been committed to passing on the proper knowledge of blood donation to expatriates and residents in the international community.

Gradually, in his dealings with other expats in Shanghai, Dr. Maskay found that a lot of expats like you also have the habit of donating blood, but because they don’t have a thorough understanding of how blood donation works in Shanghai, their acts of compassion are hindered. Dr. Maskay contacted the Shanghai Blood Center, while actively mobilizing groups for unpaid blood donations from expats. Through his efforts, many expats were encouraged to participate in voluntary blood donation drives in Shanghai. Dr. Maskay also found many like-minded friends who actively participated in the “Love without Borders” blood donation activity for expats initiated by the Shanghai Blood Center, and built a “bridge of life” between China and foreign countries by donating blood.

Through his active promotion and leadership the main voluntary blood donation team called Bloodline was established. In Shanghai’s Bund, Oriental Pearl and other major landmarks in the city, the blood donation car set many Bloodline members blood donation records. Many expats regard voluntary blood donation as a necessary activity for coming-of-age ceremonies and festivals. Through Dr. Maskay, Bloodline is gaining more and more partners, and more and more volunteers have joined the blood donation movement without compensation.

As one of the main characters of the Top 10 Charity Stories in 2019, Dr. Maskay said emotionally that the honor helps to wipe away the tears of the mothers of children suffering from cancer, to be the one who holds the hands of women with bleeding disorders, to encourage women with rare blood types to give birth, and to help fathers involved in car accidents.

Dr. Maskay also attributed the award to all his foreign friends who worked hard to establish blood relationships. Although they come from different countries and have different skin colors, the blood flowing in their veins is the same. When it was time to roll up their sleeves and save lives, they stepped up. In the future, we will continue to spread love and contribute to the community we love by donating blood gratuitously.

Shanghai United Family Hospital and the Shanghai Blood Center have maintained their great cooperation for a long time and will continue to do so for many years to come. The staff of Shanghai United Family Hospital, the general public, Chinese and foreign volunteers are all actively engaged in unpaid blood donation and Shanghai public welfare undertakings. This reflects the excellent social cohesion of the medical community as well as the overall spirit of cooperation and strength among many citizens – both local and expat – of the city of Shanghai. Something everyone involved is rightly very proud of.