Hungarian pensioner donates life savings to Budapest children's hospital

An 89-year-old pensioner has donated his life's savings of Ft 30 million (€125,000) to the Tűzoltó Utca Children's Hospital in Budapest.

zona.hu

Local hero: 89-year-old pensioner József Csarmaz donated his life savings of €125,000 to a Budapest children's hospital.

According to portal zona.hu, József Csarmaz was able to make the unusually large gift because he had been saving money throughout his 70 years of work.

With an additional Ft 5 million supplied by the hospital, Csarmaz's gift will be used to purchase an echocardiography machine. Csarmaz had made his bequest after hearing of the hospital's struggle to purchase the American-made device, which uses ultrasounds to view the inner workings of a patient's heart.

The bequest is considered all the more notable because it was the first time Csarmaz had ever given money for any charitable cause.

When asked why he didn't spend the money on himself or his family, he said he was alone, as his son died of cancer at age of 56, and his wife passed away in March.

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