Goran Martinovic donated 20,000 medical masks to the Chinese in the midst of the current coronavirus epidemic, and his plan is to ship as many medical gloves as possible soon.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 7th of February, 2020, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency delivered a big story on Thursday dedicated to a Croat from Sesvete, Goran Martinovic, a former boxer with a big heart who has obviously not be talked about enough here in Croatia, Vecernji list writes.
Generous Croat Goran Martinovic donated as many as 20,000 medical masks to China in the midst of the coronavirus epidemic, and his plan is to ship as many medical gloves as possible. Goran Martinovic was assisted by his family members and numerous friends, and the masks were purchased in Croatia and Serbia and have already reached Suzhou, a city of eleven million people and also inhabited by his older brother, Marko, who is three years his senior, the Chinese agency reports.
”Suzhou is my second home and I know that we’ll get through this fight together and win,” said Goran Martinovic, who has organised several major humanitarian actions across China over the last few years.
“I believe that love is stronger than fists,” said the 33-year-old, who opened a sports centre back in 2017 in the aforementioned Chinese city where people can learn boxing, wrestling and children who come from a less fortunate economic background can come and train for free.
”My brother Marko was a trainer in Suzhou. After a while, he came up with the idea of organising a boxing event called “White Collar” in that city with a friend. He talked to me about it, and I came to China to help him with the project. Two years ago, I also opened my own boxing gym, the Black Tie Boxing Academie, with which my entire team of coaches help me. And not only people who want to train for events come here, but also those who want to get into boxing to keep fit – women, young people, whoever wants to,” he said in an interview with the magazine.
Last April, Goran Marinovic also founded a foundation, and his humanitarian work was noticed and even rewarded by the authorities in the Jiangsu Province. Martinovic was awarded the “Friendship Award” on January the 9th, the highest tribute from a Chinese province to a foreigner.
To date, more than five hundred people have died from coronavirus, more than 28,000 cases have been reported, and doctors and scientists are on extreme alert because the virus is mutating.
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