His remarkable story, marked by hardship, endurance, and compassion, continues to inspire the nursing community decades after he entered the profession.
Born in 1942 in the village of Khorashad near Birjand, Hassanpour’s early years were filled with personal challenges, including his parents’ divorce when he was five and the loss of his mother and brother when he was a teenager.
Yet, these hardships only strengthened his determination to dedicate his life to helping others, an inspiration he drew from his father, a respected traditional physician.
He joined Mashhad’s Jorjani Nursing School, where the first group of male nursing students in Iran was trained.
Though initially drawn to medicine, he found his true calling in nursing, believing it to be the purest form of service to humanity.
In 1967, he was drafted into military service and sent to Bandar Abbas as part of the Health Corps, where he faced extreme shortages of staff and equipment.
Working up to 16 hours a day, he performed nearly all hospital duties, even surgical assistance, due to the lack of physicians.
He later recalled using perfume as an anesthetic and treating patients without a blood bank, noting with pride that none died under his care.
Among his most memorable experiences was treating a 14-year-old girl with severe burns, whom he cared for nightly over nine months until she fully recovered.
After completing his studies, Hassanpour helped revive the Shiraz branch of Iran’s Nursing Association and launched a monthly nursing magazine.
At 32, he was recognized as Iran’s first exemplary male nurse and included among the nation’s distinguished figures in the Ariyal Yearbook.
He later earned a scholarship to study at the University of California, where he worked over 70 hours a week despite legal work restrictions and ranked among the top five percent of nurses in the US.
Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, he returned to Iran with an advanced master’s degree to contribute to nursing education and management.
Hassanpour founded and expanded several academic programs in Mashhad, Birjand, Sabzevar, and Gonabad, and continued teaching and writing even after his retirement in 2005.
He passed away on July 3, 2025, leaving behind a legacy rooted in faith, humility, and an unshakable belief that nursing is a divine vocation, a service driven by love, not material gain.
IRNA