13-year-old boy fights illness to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor

(Baonghean) - Although he was diagnosed with leukemia 2 years ago, Thuan never thought of dropping out of school. He even tried to study hard to fulfill his dream of becoming a doctor.

The radiation therapy was long, Thuan still had to lie in bed to rest. Photo: Thien Thien

We arrived at Nguyen Ba Thuan’s house in Hamlet 7, Bac Son Commune (Do Luong) on ​​an early autumn day. In the house, there was only him and his grandparents. Thuan’s father worked as a construction worker, his mother as a factory worker, their usual jobs for many years in the hope of curing their youngest son’s leukemia.

Thuan lay on the bed, occasionally sitting up to pick up a book to study. After the fourth radiation treatment, his health has improved but he still cannot do anything. Thuan receives radiation treatment once a month, each treatment lasting about 20 days. But this time, he had to endure the pain from the radiation treatment for a month and a half. When we visited him, he had just returned home a few days ago.

Nguyen Ba Thuan was born into a poor family, both parents are self-employed workers. Thuan has a 15-year-old brother who dropped out of school early to work for hire. Because of the poor family situation, they have to work hard to make a living.

Thuan and his classmates. Photo: Thien Thien

Thuan is a good and gentle boy and a very good student. Every year he is awarded the title of excellent student of the school. Although his family is poor, Thuan always has a burning dream of growing up to become a doctor to repay the kindness of his parents and teachers.

Thuan's grandfather said: "Thuan was often sick since he was little. His parents took good care of him, but for some reason he kept getting thinner and thinner. Because of his family's difficult circumstances, they couldn't take him to the doctor." It wasn't until he was in 6th grade, when he was so sick that his parents took him to the hospital, that they were heartbroken to learn that their son had leukemia.

From that moment on, not only Thuan’s life but also his family’s life suddenly changed. The economy was exhausted because of having to run around to find money for medicine to treat his illness. As his illness got worse, Thuan’s parents took him to Hanoi for treatment. Every month, the little boy had to endure the pain of radiation therapy, each session lasting dozens of days, but he persevered, never complaining of pain to reassure his parents.

Each radiation treatment costs tens of millions of dong. Hospital fees, medicine, and living expenses for Thuan and his parents in Hanoi. Thuan's latest radiation treatment cost nearly 50 million dong. Recently, some benefactors have donated to Thuan's treatment, and his family is extremely grateful for their generosity, but in reality, his treatment regimen is very expensive.

Even when lying in a hospital bed fighting his illness, Nguyen Ba Thuan still wanted to study. His dream is to become a doctor. Photo: Thien Thien

This year, Thuan is 13 years old, studying in the 8th grade at Ly Tu Trong Secondary School in Dang Son Commune (Do Luong). However, due to his health condition, Thuan only started going to class nearly a month after the start of the new school year. That was also after Thuan had just undergone radiation therapy for more than a month after returning from Hanoi.

Thuan sat leaning against the wall on his small bed talking to us. He shared sadly: "When I was little, I wanted to grow up to be a construction engineer, but after I got this disease and went through painful radiation treatments, my dream changed. I want to become a doctor, to treat people in the same situation."

Teacher Bui Duy Tan - Thuan's homeroom teacher shared: "Thuan is a good student, polite to adults and sociable with friends. Thuan studies well but because of illness, he does not have much time to go to class. However, he still borrows his friend's notebook to take full notes. Thuan is a shining example of perseverance that other students should follow."

Thien Thien - Mai Ly