A 59-year-old man from the Chinese city of Chengdu, who has donated blood more than 300 times in the last 20 years and has been known as the “blood donation king,” is now in need of financial assistance after he suffered an ischaemic stroke, according to The South China Morning Post. Yang Xiuwei, a Sichuan province resident, fell suddenly in late January when he went to visit a relative. His wife, Xie Suhua, took him to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with a cerebral infarction, also referred to as a stroke.

Even after his heroic act in donating blood to benefit society, Yang is now burdened with severe medical bills and is appealing for help from the public during his recovery. His case elicited general sympathy, with many of them commiserating with him.

“A narrowing occurred in the cerebellum, vermis, and a primary blood vessel in his brain. The stroke happened in an acute manner,” a doctor stated. “He should be hospitalised for observation for 10 to 14 days.”

Yang Xiuwei’s wife, Xie, told SCMP that Yang works as a cleaner, while she does not have stable employment. Together, they earn 3,000 yuan (US$410) per month, relying on Yang’s mother, who is in her 90s, to subsidise their rent from her pension. Their son is a migrant worker in another city and did not return home to celebrate the Lunar New Year with them.

Xie paid a deposit of 2,000 yuan when her husband was hospitalised, but after just a week of treatment, the medical costs have already soared to 10,000 yuan.

“As this amount exceeds our financial capacity, we are planning to seek help from the public through a crowdfunding website,” she said.

It remains unclear what the total medical expenses for Yang will be.

In consequence of their “bad behaviour” around the pandas, a dozen tourists have been permanently banned from China’s Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, according to CNN.

A statement posted on the research base’s official WeChat account said that 12 people, ages 26 to 61, have been given lifetime bans. Their offences included spitting into the pandas’ outdoor play area on two consecutive occasions and throwing bread, eggs, lollipop sticks, cigarettes, and bamboo shoots.

Fortunately, the pandas were unharmed by their wicked activity, and the WeChat post confirmed their continued excellent health and happiness.

According to CNN, The Research Base has not publicly identified any of the banned guests or their nationalities. The WeChat post explained that the tourists were not all together; the offences took place between April and June of this year.

The base, which is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Chengdu, has detailed visitor instructions on its website.

“Please be mindful of your own and animals’ safety,” reads one note. “Stay quiet and keep clear of animals; littering, spitting, throwing food into the animal activity field, and other behaviours threatening animals’ safety are prohibited.”

Violators of the rules face penalties including criticism and education, one-year bans, five-year bans, or lifetime bans from entering the park. The severity of the penalty depends on the degree of the violation.

The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding was established in 1987 in Sichuan, China, with the goal of restoring the native giant pandas’ natural habitat while serving as a top-notch research institution, conservation education hub, and international tourist destination.