Zhu Tianxi, a 49-year-old excavator maintenance technician from Xiangyang, Hubei province, donated stem cells for a leukemia patient in Canada on Thursday.

A total of 370 milliliters of Zhu's hemopoietic stem cells were flown to Toronto from Wuhan on Thursday.

Zhu is said to be the oldest volunteer to donate hemopoietic stem cells, according to the Hubei branch of the China Marrow Donor Program.

"I joined the program four years ago with the hope of saving the lives of leukemia patients," he said. "It's unexpected to save the life of a foreign patient this time."