Mid-Autumn Festival gifts come early to children with cancer

Mid-Autumn Festival gifts continue to be given by Thuy's Dream program to children with cancer - Photo: THANH HIEP

In addition to gifts, the program also organizes fun games to help children with cancer have relaxing and comfortable moments with friends and family.

Receiving early Mid-Autumn gifts, cancer patients are very happy

In a corner of the hospital bed, Ms. Pham Thi Trang (from Dak Nong) - mother of Ngo Thien Bao (3 years old) - said that the family discovered that the child had leukemia earlier this year.

Bao often had a fever and a pale face. After going to the local doctor, he was diagnosed with anemia. Worried, the family decided to take their son to Ho Chi Minh City for a checkup. Bao had cancer and was asked to be hospitalized immediately.

The family is mainly farmers. The sick child was forced to sell the land and borrow money everywhere. Both husband and wife went to Ho Chi Minh City with their child. Dak Nong had just gone through a drought and they had to stop farming, so the whole family lost everything.

Sitting nearby, patting her 4-year-old son Phan Dinh Khuong, Ms. Ca Lich (from Lam Dong) stroked her son's head and said that in early 2024, she saw that her son's body had swollen areas, so she took him to Da Lat City for a check-up. The doctor diagnosed him with lymphadenitis and prescribed medicine for two weeks.

But when the medicine ran out and her child's condition did not improve, Ms. Lich took her child to Ho Chi Minh City and was shocked to hear that her child had cancer.

"My husband is now the main income earner, working for hire and taking care of our youngest child who is less than 1 year old. The job is also unstable, we have to do whatever people ask us to do. Right now, we are still alive, but the treatment costs are too high, I don't know what will happen next," said Ms. Lich.

Although his hands were still covered with needle marks, little Khuong still tried to follow his mother down to the lobby of the Oncology Hospital to attend the program. He looked at the gifts neatly arranged on the table by volunteers from Tuoi Tre newspaper and Hoa Sen University with attentive, eager eyes.

"Khuong is very happy to receive Mid-Autumn gifts. He loves receiving gifts, especially toys," said Ms. Lich.

This year's Mid-Autumn Festival, Thuy's Dream program gave 1,000 gifts to children with cancer - Photo: THANH HIEP

Giving away 1,000 Mid-Autumn gifts this year

This year's Mid-Autumn Festival, Thuy's Dream program ( Tuoi Tre newspaper) prepared and presented 1,000 gifts to children with cancer. Each gift is worth 500,000 VND (200,000 VND in cash and 300,000 VND in gifts including cakes, milk, and school supplies). The total cost is 500 million VND.

Lasting until September 16, the program will organize entertainment and give Mid-Autumn gifts at 9 hospitals. In Ho Chi Minh City, there will be 4 hospitals: Oncology, Children's Hospital 2, City Children's Hospital, Blood Transfusion and Hematology.

In Da Nang, there are two hospitals: Oncology and Obstetrics and Pediatrics. In Hanoi, there are two hospitals: Central Children's Hospital and Central Cancer Hospital. In Thua Thien Hue, there is Hue Central Hospital.

During the gift-giving ceremony on the afternoon of September 12, Mr. Nguyen Trong Dung - Deputy Head of the Social Work Department of Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital - on behalf of the cancer patients and their families, sent sincere thanks to Thuy's Dream program for sharing and bringing the joy of Mid-Autumn Festival to the children early.

Not only giving Mid-Autumn gifts, Thuy's Dream program also organizes games for children with cancer - Photo: THANH HIEP

The program aims to take care of the spiritual life of sick children and their families being treated at hospitals - Photo: THANH HIEP

Each gift is worth 500,000 VND (200,000 VND in cash and 300,000 VND in gifts including cakes, milk, and school supplies) - Photo: THANH HIEP

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/qua-trung-thu-den-som-voi-benh-nhi-ung-thu-20240912172330171.htm