Chen Siqi

vankochensq@163.com

WEARING an Iron Man T-shirt, Heráclito Everson Biscaia Filho from Brazil made his 34th blood donation in Shenzhen at Nanshan Blood Donation Station yesterday afternoon.

“It was very relaxing, no problem at all,” the 42-year-old, who prefers to be called Hera, said while he was making the donation for platelets with the help of an automatic machine.

Hera, who has the rare AB RH negative blood type, is a frequent blood donor and has donated voluntarily and unpaid 34 times in Shenzhen since 2013. In eight years, he has donated 6,000 milliliters of blood and 19 units of platelets, according to the station.

The Brazilian made his first donation back in his home country when he was 18, as a favor to his close aunt. Since then, Hera has donated blood frequently in Brazil.

“I felt nice [for the first donation], because I learned how to do something that I had never expected to do in my life and I have carried it on since 1997,” Hera recalled.

Hera stopped donating his blood for a few years after he came to China in 2007. It was not until 2013 when he visited Nanshan Blood Donation Station that he found out he can donate blood in China and in Shenzhen.

“At the beginning, I was afraid because I can’t speak Chinese. Since they [the staff] made my file and blood donor card, everything has gone smoothly,” Hera said.

(Continued on P4)