Before cancer changed his life, 13-year-old Tran Van Quy was a bright, thoughtful boy who was always ready to help his family.
As the eldest of three brothers, Quy often helped his parents cook, clean the house, look after his younger siblings, and take them to school. After school, he would finish his chores before heading out to play football with his friends. During the coffee season, he would even join his parents in picking coffee buds to help earn extra income.
That simple life began to change in July 2026. Persistent headaches, along with increasing weight loss and paleness, led Quy to leave his home in Lam Dong and travel 8-9 hours to Ho Chi Minh City. At Children’s Hospital of Ho Chi Minh City, he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and began a 32-month chemotherapy treatment plan.
Quy is currently going through his first treatment cycle. Nausea, body aches, and fatigue from the side effects have made this first cycle longer than expected.
His mother says Quy is expected to undergo around five cycles, but she does not know what lies ahead. For now, she simply tells herself that she will walk alongside her son, “one cycle at a time.”
With such a long treatment plan, completing each cycle is an important milestone. Yet even during the first cycle, the medical costs listed on paper had already exceeded VND 100 million. Although Quy’s student health insurance covers 80%, the remaining costs, along with food, accommodation, and travel, are still a heavy burden for a family relying on seasonal work.
Since Quy was hospitalized, his parents have taken turns caring for him at the hospital, looking after their two younger children at home, and keeping up with work on the farm. His father continues working whenever he can and sends money to help support the mother and son. Knowing how difficult things are for his family, Quy sometimes stays quiet when he sees that his mother has run out of money. During his hospital stay, he wished for a long teddy bear to hug or rest his legs on when they felt tired. But afraid that it would cost his mother money, he never asked. Instead, he quietly drew a teddy-bear-shaped pillow on a card and kept it to himself.
At the end of our conversation, Quy did not make a wish for himself. Instead, he wished that the women from the KARE program could continue helping more children like him get better.
For children like Quy, the road to recovery is long, with significant financial challenges along the way. But when a community comes together, small contributions can add up to meaningful support – helping children access timely treatment, reach one more milestone, and move closer to the day they can be healthy again.
This Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, join KARE in making a small contribution through the “Feed the Fight” campaign, with a fundraising goal of VND 300 million to help cover treatment costs for around 10 children with cancer from disadvantaged families.
Feed the Fight. Fund the Treatment: https://vietnamchildrensfund.com/en/campaign/one-breakfasts-worth-feed-the-fight-fund-the-treatment/
