Fu Qiang donates blood platelets for the Shanghai World Expo. [Photo provided to China Daily]

As a public-spirited person, Fu felt very sad, for he could only lie in bed, and was unable to help flood victims.

Many friends visited Fu. One was injured as he was cycling to the hospital, when he fell into a sewer manhole. The cover had been removed to release flood waters.

"I was moved by their loving care and was determined to try my best to stand up so that I could repay their kindness and help others in need," Fu says.

With the help of medicine and exercise, he had a nearly miraculous recovery one year later.

Soon afterwards, he passed the entrance examination to Anhui Normal University and studied fine arts for three years. Upon completion of his studies, he returned to the Ma'anshan Iron and Steel Co, Ltd.

On Oct 1, 1998, China's new law on blood donation took effect. After showing he was healthy, Fu started donating blood.

One Sunday in the spring of 2003, Fu heard that a junior high school student in Dangtu county, Anhui, lost a huge amount of blood from his spleen. Fu took a 40-minute taxi ride to the county.

"It was difficult to find qualified blood donors on Sunday when many volunteers might have drunk liquor. I had to go," Fu says.

Fu was the moving force behind the Ma'anshan Red Cross Association of Unpaid Blood Donation Volunteers, which was set up in June 2005. It was the first association of unpaid blood donation volunteers in Anhui and the fourth in China.