(VOVworld) – Military doctor Dang Cat is familiar to many people in Tay Ho district, Hanoi, because he has been providing free medical check-ups and treatment for 25 years. He said President Ho Chi Minh’s moral example is worth following. VOV reports:

75-year-old Doctor Dang Cat was born into a family of doctors and nurses in Nam Dinh province. He used to be a battlefield medic in the northwestern region, northern Laos, and at Dien Bien Phu. Cat said that in 1969 he was dispatched to head a military medical unit in Son La province, where he was told about a number of medical remedies applied by President Ho Chi Minh. He decided to research folk remedies and combine them with western medicine for more effective treatment. Cat says: “My way of curing is to find out what causes the disease rather than just treating symptoms. I always do all I can to save people. I can’t cure all diseases but at least 80% of my patients have stable health and work normally.”

Cat considers a person’s health priceless, so after he retired he opened a medical examination room to provide free services for people in his area. The number of his patients has grown to include people from other provinces and even foreigners. Cat says: “I feel what my patients feel and really sympathize with their suffering. Sympathy and compassion can’t be bought with money. That’s why I always try to give my patients the most cost-effective treatments.”

Cat has offered his services to many people at their homes for free. With severe cases he asks them to go to a hospital and when they are discharged he visits and gives them medical advice. Doctor Cat never asks for anything in return because he says his pension is enough. Compassion and generosity are what Doctor Cat is respected for. War veteran Nguyen Van Vien, a long-time friend of Cat, says: “It’s good to have people like Doctor Cat, who sets a shining example for the movement to follow President Ho Chi Minh’s moral example. Cat does all he can in the interest of the people, the homeland, and society.”

Doctor Cat has been honored by Hanoi authorities with the title “Good people, good deeds” and people in his area call him simply the “people’s doctor”.