SGT Chan Kwong-hing, a selfless bone marrow donor
Sergeant (SGT) Chan Kwong-hing, a Motorcycle Driving Instructor in Police Driving and Traffic Training Division (PD&TTD), serves society not only as a police officer but also a habitual blood donor.
The "Save Little Gordon" Campaign in 1991, in which a 16-month-old Canadian Chinese baby suffering from a serious blood disease was urgently in need of bone marrow transplantation, has spurred SGT Chan to contribute more. Since then, he has been a registered bone marrow donor.
In 2004, SGT Chan's bone marrow was found matching with an unrelated young patient in Hong Kong, a thalassemia sufferer, who used to live with blood transfusion on a monthly basis since seven months old.
Despite the risk of the operation, SGT Chan's family encouraged him to undertake the bone marrow transplantation. Subsequently he spent a meaningful Christmas and successfully had his bone marrow transplanted to the recipient on Christmas Eve.
None of his colleagues knew anything about SGT Chan's selfless act until the TV programme "Tuesday Report" broadcast a feature on blood donation in early January this year to promote community services with story of a blood donor like him.
With the arrangement of the Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service, SGT Chan met his bone marrow recipient, Ms Angela Chung Hei-tung, for the first time recently. Describing the meeting as "a very wonderful experience", he noted: "I'm very happy that what I did could help other people. Now I realise it's more a blessing to give than to receive. My daughter and Angela are of the same age, and they are sitting for the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination this year. The bone marrow transplantation between us seems to be an arrangement of destiny."
SGT Chan's family is very proud of his noble contribution and so are members of the PD&TTD staff.
SGT
Chan (fourth right) meets Angela (fifth right) for the first time