In order to express gratitude for the selfless dedication of body and organ donors to the medical career and inspire medical students to think deeply about the meaning of life, NKU School of Medicine and Tianjin Red Cross Society jointly conducted an activity of remembering the silent teachers and feeling the spirit of medicine in the morning of Qingming Festival on April 4 at the Meaning-of-Life Exhibition Room in Jinnan Campus. Participating teachers and students paid their respect to those body and organ donors. 

At the outset, all participants stood up and observed a minute of silence to mourn for the deceased. After the silence, Mr. Xing Yunjing, Deputy Head of Tianjin Human Organ Donation Voluntary Service Brigade, gave an introduction to human organ donation in Tianjin and talked about his experience and feelings in donation coordination. After his retirement, Mr. Xing joined the volunteer team of the Human Organ Donation Management Center under Tianjin Red Cross Society. He has been involved in coordinating hundreds of body donations over the past five years. In 2017, he registered as a body donation volunteer. His vision is to pave the way for donors and help them take the last step in their lives; and sing for these “silent teachers” so that more people can feel their noble spirit of selflessness and dedication. What Mr. Xing shared deeply moved all teacher and students present.

Liu Yiran, Mao Yuandai and Sun Yixuan, representatives of students from Class of 2019 majoring in Clinical Medicine, recited the Ode to the Dead and Body Donor and the poem You Leave the Light in the World. Wearing white lab coats, the medical students present recited the Medical Students’ Oath once again, announcing that they would never forget their pledge to “strive for the medicine and health in the country and for the physical and mental health of human beings”.

After the activity, students visited the exhibition room where donors’ wills and relics are displayed and asked Mr. Xing about the process of human organ donation in detail.

Zhao Runqi, an undergraduate of Class of 2019 majoring in Clinical Medicine, was impressed by the will of a gentleman, which read: “If I have ashes after my death, please scatter them into the Haihe River because I was a soldier of PLA Navy.” He defended the country during his life and dedicated himself to it after his death. These silent teachers are the most extraordinary people.

Zhang Taoran, an undergraduate of Class of 2019 majoring in Clinical Medicine, said, “The silent teachers guide me to sail. Their souls are engraved in the blood of medical students, singing in the rain of Qingming Festival. On the long medical journey, they show us direction and empower us.

Since 2018, the School of Medicine has officially become a cooperator of Tianjin Red Cross Society for body donation. Students will definitely live up to the expectations and wishes of body and organ donors, respect life, study hard and make due contributions to the development of medicine and health.