Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, 38, faces a harrowing challenge as her 13-year-old daughter, Linh Dan, battles B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a rapidly progressing form of blood cancer. Diagnosed in late January 2026 at the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, Linh Dan requires five inpatient chemotherapy cycles and two years of outpatient treatment. The substantial medical costs far exceed Thuy's capacity, whose monthly salary was 7 million VND.

"My ears rang, my vision blurred. I was heartbroken and distraught, not knowing where to find money for the treatment", Thuy recounted. She has since quit her job to remain by her daughter's side. Despite local authorities confirming her difficult circumstances and granting partial exemption from hospital fees, Thuy has incurred a debt of over 100 million VND, which her 66-year-old mother borrowed from various sources.

Linh Dan receiving treatment at the hospital, early 2026. *Family photo*

Aware of her mother's struggles, Linh Dan is remarkably understanding. After accidentally hearing other parents mention "disease K" (a common euphemism for cancer in Vietnam), she researched it online. Upon learning the truth, she hugged her mother, comforting her, "Why did you hide it from me?". During days of vomiting and persistent fever due to chemotherapy, the 13-year-old gritted her teeth and endured, never complaining or crying.

This current crisis adds to a decade of quiet sorrow for Thuy. In her small home in Hung Long commune (formerly Binh Chanh district), TP HCM, she often opens a wooden drawer to carefully clean two keepsakes of her late husband. "The love remains, but he is gone", she says, reflecting on the memory of 7/3/2016.

On that fateful day, after work, her husband, Hoang Linh, stopped at a store to buy a teddy bear for their three-year-old daughter and a new dress for Thuy for International Women's Day. However, a traffic accident on his way home claimed his life. "When I arrived, he was already gone, unable to utter a single word. But seeing the gift bag hanging on his motorbike, I knew how much he loved his wife and daughter", Thuy tearfully recounted.

Thuy and Hoang Linh married in 2010, but due to infertility, their daughter Linh Dan was born three years later. Her husband's sudden death devastated Thuy. Clinging to life, her young daughter and the two un-given gifts became her sole motivation to carry on. She carefully stored the dress and the teddy bear, never trying them on. Occasionally, she would let her daughter cuddle the teddy bear and tell her about her late father. Thuy harbored a dream: on the day her daughter graduated from university or got married, she would present these gifts to her.

Thuy and her daughter during a shopping trip in 2025. *Family photo*

Over the past ten years, the seamstress worked continuous overtime to raise her daughter. Understanding her mother's hardships, Linh Dan always strived in her studies, earning excellent student recognition for six consecutive years.

Thu Thao, Thuy's colleague, shared: "Thuy never complained about her hardships or sought personal happiness. All she did was work tirelessly to earn money so her daughter wouldn't suffer any disadvantages." Each sleepless night by her daughter's bedside, Thuy looks at her child, silently praying for her husband in the afterlife to give her strength.

"Despite all the challenges, I hope my daughter gets well, so one day she can hold her father's teddy bear on an important day of her life", the mother wept.

Program name: Ten cua ban - Mat troi Hy vong

Program ID: 195961

Pham Nga