Zou Defeng delivers cooking oil and rice to people in economic difficulties in Nanchang, Jiangxi province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Retiree, 60 offers help to people for decades

Zou Defeng has been working as a volunteer in Nanchang Railway Station for 26 years.

The 60-year-old has been working as a nurse in Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi province for more than four decades. In 1992, she initiated a voluntary medical team, consisting of staff members from the hospital where she worked, and started providing medical service free-of-charge for travelers in the railway station during the Spring Festival travel rush.

Like many other railway stations in China, Nanchang Railway Station often witnesses a large flow of passengers during the travel rush, probably the time when voluntary services are most needed to help maintain smooth and efficient operation of the station.

According to Zou, her voluntary service at this time of the year usually starts on the third day of the Chinese New Year and lasts till the 15th day, which marks the end of New Year celebrations.

The focus is on travelers that need extra attention, such as the aged, the disabled and the pregnant, while Zou and her colleagues also need to to take care of emergencies.

During the last Spring Festival, Zou recalled, she was informed that someone was having a nosebleed in one of the station's waiting rooms. She rushed to the scene and found a man in his 50s sitting on the floor and leaning against the chair, blood staining his clothes.

"He was bleeding heavily. I compressed his nose and applied hemostatics to help stop the bleeding," Zou said. She took his blood pressure, found he was suffering hypertension, and gave him some medicine to lower the pressure.

Fortunately, the passenger gradually recovered consciousness, took a rest and had some lunch before boarding his train.

The nurse, who was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal in 2013, said she sometimes feels sorry that the busy work during every Chinese New Year means less time spent with her family, but she enjoys being a volunteer.

"I feel a sense of achievement when I am needed by others. I feel happy when I help others," she said.