Doctor who received money from the whole village to go to university, after 24 years still hasn't paid off the debt

Ha Tinh Long was born in 1980 in a village on the Loess Plateau (Shanxi, China). In 1996, after graduating from high school, he passed the entrance exam to Yuncheng Medical College, Shanxi (China). Although he was very happy when he passed the university entrance exam, his parents were very worried because they could not afford the tuition.

Hearing the news, the villagers came to his house and told his parents: "Mr. Ha, don't worry. Tinh Long is the first student in the village to pass the university entrance exam. It's not easy for someone here to pass the university entrance exam. If he wants to study, let him study. The villagers will contribute the tuition fee."

Immediately after this statement, one person gave 50 yuan (about 172,393 VND), another 100 yuan (~344,787 VND) and finally the whole village contributed 3,025 yuan (~10.4 million VND) so that Tinh Long could have money to pay for his tuition. Receiving this money from the villagers, Tinh Long said: "This kindness, even if I had to repay it, I still wouldn't be able to finish it. I will definitely study hard and then come back to repay it."

Aware of his responsibility, he did not dare to neglect his studies for 4 years. In 2000, Tinh Long graduated from university with honors, so the school offered to keep him as a lecturer. Meanwhile, his family and friends advised him to apply for a job at a hospital.

At that time, Tinh Long was very hesitant, if he stayed at school or worked at the hospital, he would receive a salary of 2,000 NDT/month (~6.8 million VND). If so, it would not take him long to have money to pay off his debt to his neighbors. However, when he was about to decide to work in town, he thought of the old favor, so he returned to his hometown to open a free medical clinic for everyone.

When he first opened his clinic, not many people came. They thought he was young and inexperienced. One night, Tinh Long received a call to save a dying old woman. After more than 20 days of intensive treatment, he finally saved the old woman from death. From then on, his reputation became known to many people, and villagers from neighboring areas also flocked to him. Whenever people needed him, he was there promptly to treat them.

According to NetEase , after more than 24 years of practicing in his hometown, Tinh Long has examined and treated more than 4,600 people in 28 neighboring villages. He has broken 7 motorbikes and worn out 17 sets of medical equipment. The total amount of money he spent on free medical examinations for people is about 350,000 yuan (~1.2 billion VND), of which 100,000 yuan (~344 million VND) was spent on medicine alone.

Even though he graduated more than 24 years ago, he still hasn’t had the chance to pay back the money to his relatives. Because they think that when they spent that money on Tinh Long’s education, they didn’t want anything in return. Moreover, with what he has done over the past two decades, this debt has long been cleared.

With a high work intensity, moving on mountainous roads every day, now in his 40s, he also suffers from many diseases such as stomach, arthritis and cervical spondylosis. There are days when he moves a lot, the pain at night makes him unable to sleep.

However, no matter how hard it was, he never regretted his choice. "Without the help of the people back then, I would not have been able to go to university. Although I did not earn money by working in my hometown, I was trusted and loved by everyone," he shared.

For him, the mission of a doctor is not how much money he makes but how many people he saves. His perseverance over the years has helped people realize that true value is not money and status but contribution to society.

With his dedication over the past 24 years, in 2016, Tinh Long was voted as one of the 10 most inspiring people. A year later, he received the White Medal of Grace for individuals with outstanding contributions to the Chinese medical field. In 2020, Tinh Long was again voted as the country's National Advanced Worker.

In June 2024, he was invited by Shanxi Medical University (China) to speak at the graduation ceremony. Here, he shared his story of becoming a rural doctor. In addition, he also encouraged medical students to further engage in the country's medical field.

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