Wait for mom to call, wait for a miracle
Vuong Ngoc Lan - a 4-year-old girl in Dao Lam village, Nghia Dan commune, Hung Yen province - was supposed to run around in front of her yard, babbling and singing to the music, holding onto her mother's skirt every afternoon. Lan is pretty, often smiles, and loves to dance and sing. In the village, everyone is familiar with the image of a small girl, freely jumping, affectionately called "little angel".
But then, that childhood is stopping at the door of the hospital.
Lan has autoimmune encephalitis - a rare and cruel disease. Since the onset of the disease, the life of the 4-year-old girl has been associated with hospital beds, needles, machines and long sleepless nights. For two consecutive months, Lan has been actively treated at the National Hospital of Pediatrics in a serious condition, having to fight for her life every day.
To keep her child alive, doctors were forced to screen for plasma 7 times, each time costing 30 million VND. Every day, Lan had to receive 3 to 5 bottles of specific medicine, priced at 3.8 million VND/bottle - most of the cost is not covered by health insurance. The number of hospital fees increased quietly, coldly, far exceeding the capacity of a poor working family.
Lan was also infected with a strange virus. In the white room, the tiny little girl lay motionless, her thin hands full of vines. Not crying, not speaking, only weak breaths left, making adults standing next to her not dare to breathe strongly.
The mother - Ms. Doan Thi Quyen - quit her job as a garment worker to be with her child. “Some nights I only dared to hold my child's hand, not daring to leave for half a step. I was afraid that as soon as I turned away, my child would no longer be there...”, she said, tears falling silently.
At the age of 4, Lan had not yet understood what illness is. She just lay there, waiting for her mother to call, waiting for a miracle.
Meals without parents
When baby Lan was still lying in the fragile boundary of life, another tragedy struck the small family.
On December 8, 2025, on the way to Hanoi to visit his son, Mr. Vuong Van Toi (born in 1992) - Lan's father unfortunately had a serious accident. He broke his jawbone, suffered injuries to many areas of his body, and had to undergo surgery at Viet Duc Hospital. The breadwinner of the family collapsed and was no longer able to work.
With no one to take care of him, the family had to ask Mr. Toi to come home for monitoring and treatment. One side was the father with serious injuries, the other side was his 4-year-old daughter who was hospitalized for many days, needing each bottle of medicine to maintain her life.
In their hometown, two other children - Uyen Nhi (2015) and Gia Khanh (2019) are still of school age, relying on their grandparents. Meals without parents, intermittent calls from the hospital and the worry that their children are not old enough to call their names.
The family originally only relied on my mother's wage as a garment worker and my father's precarious job as an aluminum and glass worker. Now, both sources of income are gone. “Money has been borrowed everywhere, but my hospital fees are too high. My parents no longer have the ability to manage...” - Ms. Quyen choked up.
Mr. Hoang Van Hoat - Head of Dao Lam village - said: "Lan's family is in particularly difficult circumstances. She has a serious illness, the treatment cost is very high, and her father has a serious accident. The locality hopes that philanthropists, organizations, and individuals will pay attention and help so that she has more opportunities to be treated.
Out there, amidst the rushing life, baby Lan may just be a very small name. But for her parents, it is the whole world. It is a 4-year-old child who has not yet grown up and has had to fight against severe illness.
Each heart at this time - even a small help can become a miracle. A miracle to keep a small life, so that the "little angel" in the years to come still has the opportunity to return home, continue to dance and sing in the village yard, in the arms of his parents.
Please send any help to LD26003 Lan to the Golden Heart Charity Fund - 51 Hang Bo, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi. Account number (STK) 113000000758 at Vietinbank Hoan Kiem Branch, Hanoi; Contact number: 0021000303088 - at Vietcombank Hanoi Branch; Contact number: 12410001122556 - at BIDV Hoan Kiem Branch.
