For 6 long years of using the hospital as a home, Nguyen Kim Ngan's small hands were covered with bruised needle marks. When the light of hope for a successful bone marrow transplant just lit up, the poor family fell into the abyss when the cost amounted to 2 billion VND - a huge number for the thin shoulders of a father and mother who are freelancers.
At Tran Yen Ethnic Minority Boarding Primary School No. 1 (Hung Vu commune, Lang Son province), baby Nguyen Kim Ngan (6 years old) has a smaller, pale appearance than her peers.
Few people know that, from the age of 4 months, Ngan had to receive a "life sentence" for thalassemia.
For the past 6 years, the baby's life has not been associated with teddy bears or colorful toys, but with the smell of antiseptic and blood pockets stretching from month to month.
Ms. Be Thi Thuoc - Kim Ngan's mother - choked up recalling the fateful moment: "When the doctor announced that my child had Thalassemia, my legs could not stand firmly, my heart ached. Looking at patients with facial deformities, atrophied limbs due to this disease, my husband and I could only hug our child and sob. The feeling of guilt for not giving our child a healthy body has tormented me for many years.
To maintain her life, once a month, Kim Ngan has to go to Hanoi for blood transfusions. Her tiny hands are covered with needle marks, dark black over the years.
The older she gets, the weaker Kim Ngan's health becomes, her skin turns pale, her heart beats faster, and bone pains linger more often.
After efforts to treat her in Vietnam but not bringing the expected results, Ms. Thuoc's family sold all their houses and land - the last assets - to find opportunities for their children.
At the beginning of 2026, a glimmer of hope flashed when the family learned about successful bone marrow transplants in India.
Saving the last penny, the couple took Kim Ngan to a foreign country for examination. The happiness burst when the doctor concluded that Kim Ngan was eligible for bone marrow transplant and the most suitable bone marrow donor was the baby's older brother.
However, the joy was short-lived. The cost of surgery and post-operative surgery was announced to be up to 2 billion VND.
For a family working as freelancers, that number is truly a mountain of rocks weighing on their fragile hope.
Recently, a letter from the doctor was like an urging, Ngan's iron levels in her blood were too high, her liver was heavily iron-contaminated and her facial structure began to show signs of deformity.
The doctor requested the baby to undergo surgery within the next 2 months to ensure the success rate.
Two months to have 2 billion VND, I really don't know where to cling anymore. The house is gone, the land has also been sold, debts piled up. Looking at my daughter still being resilient every day, I feel so helpless," Ms. Thuoc choked up.
For the past 6 years, Kim Ngan has fought like a true warrior. She yearns to live, to continue carrying books to school with friends in the highland commune of Hung Vu. But the boundary between life and death is now only separated by a number that her family cannot reach.
Talking to PV, Mr. Pham Ba Hanh - Chairman of Hung Vu Commune People's Committee - said: "Ms. Be Thi Thuoc's family is a citizen in the commune, her young child has a serious illness for a long time. The locality has also found ways to support and encourage them, but only partly in terms of spirit and policy procedures.
According to the leader, the figure of 2 billion VND for Ngan to have a bone marrow transplant is too large, far exceeding the ability of the family and the support of the locality.
We really hope philanthropists and benefactors will join hands to help so that he has a chance to live," Mr. Hanh said.
All help for life situation LD26116 please send to Tam Long Vang Charity Social Fund - 51 Hang Bo, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi. Account number (STK) 113000000758 at Vietinbank Hoan Kiem Branch, Hanoi; Account number: 0021000303088 - at Vietcombank Hanoi Branch; Account number: 12410001122556 - at BIDV Hoan Kiem Branch.
