In 2013, a young girl named Phạm Trần Ngọc Vy – Vy for short – received the diagnosis of her kidney problem and became sick. Born on March 8th, 2007, Vy was only 6 year’s old at the time of her diagnosis. Vy’s parents are divorced and it was her mom who accompanied her to the hospital visits at DaNang Children’s Hospital. However, in 2018, Vy’s mom began to become sick with mental illness and was admitted to a mental health hospital for treatment. She remains there to this day, leaving Vy to live with an Aunt. At 11 years old, Vy also began to come to the DaNang Children’s Hospital alone.
A determined little girl, Vy figured out everything from transportation to and from the hospital and eating/living arrangements by herself. Thankfully, meals and hospital expenses were often contributed to Vy by donations.
Despite coming to the treatments alone, Vy does have one older brother and two more younger siblings. Because her older brother does not have a stable job and the youngest’s need someone to watch over them, the siblings all live with monks in a temple here. Vy adores her siblings, and would visit the temple often to share any donated cookies and candies she received with her family; she loves to share.
Our team met Vy during one of our TVD Arts & Crafts projects at the hospital. During these visits, members often hold Q&A sessions to interact with the children. When we asked, ‘If you could be an animal, what would you be?’, Vy raised her hand and answered, ‘An Eagle, because I just want to be strong’. The team was captivated by Vy almost immediately.
When Vy turns 16 years old, she will no longer qualify to be treated at DaNang’s Childrens Hospital and will be transferred to Bệnh viện Đa khoa Hospital. In order to help with this commute, Vy’s wish was to own an electric bike to get to and from treatments. The average cost for an electric bike is about 10 million VND.
Members of TVD spontaneously pitched in enough money to make Vy’s wish come true, and was able to purchase her an electric bike! There was even some money left over, which was given to Vy to help with any other expenses she may find herself having. In addition to the bike, Greig and Na Huong of Protec Inc. has also donated a helmet for Vy to complete her wish with staying safe on the road.
Vy is a truly inspiring story, that left many TVD members in tears!
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