Accompanying children with cancer from their own pain

For the past 9 years, Ms. Thuan has persistently implemented projects to accompany and help children who are unfortunately suffering from serious illnesses.

Ms. Thuan (born in 1987, Nghe An) was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 18. For the next 7 years, during her treatment, she fell into a state of depression and disorientation...

Ms. Thuan shared that she still maintains her studies in parallel with treatment. In the first two years, studying had many difficulties because she could not see the future ahead, lacked motivation... From the third year onwards, she began to think about the ability to recover and try harder. "I felt that my academic results at that time were so bad, then I thought I would be lucky enough to recover, my graduation certificate could not be bad...", Ms. Thuan said.

In 2012, Ms. Thuan underwent a bone marrow transplant by doctors at the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion. The successful bone marrow transplant marked an important turning point in her life.

Overcoming the difficult period thanks to receiving encouragement from everyone around her, Ms. Thuan felt the need to do something to continue doing good things. In 2016, after her health was stable, she returned to the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion as a volunteer at the Department of Pediatric Blood Diseases.

"At the Department of Children's Blood Diseases, there is a library and a small classroom, so I decided to spend time playing, talking, drawing, practicing writing... with the children. Occasionally, a few close friends joined in. I also write for newspapers and screenwriters, and whenever I have a pen, I give them gifts, Ms. Thuan shared.

From personal experience and conversations with parents of children, Ms. Thuan clearly understands the material and spiritual pressures they are facing. In 2019, she proposed to the Institute's Social Work Department to implement the project "Two Mother Hands".

Participating in the project, mothers who are taking care of their sick children learn to embroider and make handmade products. With the products sold with guaranteed quality, Ms. Thuan will pay the mothers, thereby helping them have a small source of income, reducing worries during childcare. A part of the profits from the "Mother's Hands" project were spent on the "I wish for What" scholarship project. In 2025 alone, the program awarded 40 scholarships to disadvantaged children, each worth 5 million VND.

In 2021, Ms. Thuan established the For Children's cancer network to conduct more methodical volunteer activities. In addition to the projects that are being maintained such as: "Seed classes", "Mother's Hands"... the network also organizes gift giving programs for children on Children's International Holidays, Mid-Autumn Festival...

Ms. Thuan said that during the process of establishing and operating the network, she did not call for sponsorship, did not ask for organizations, and did not post treatment photos of children. Since 2016, she has used the network's personal page to post project activities, as a way to preserve memories for parents and herself.

At the same time, in October 2022, Ms. Thuan built the project "Dream Hair Station". To date, the project has had more than 25,000 hair donations, this hair is donated to patients and pediatric patients at the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, National Oncology Hospital...

On her journey to contribute to children with cancer, Ms. Hoang Thi Dieu Thuan hopes to learn and accumulate more new knowledge, opening up more opportunities, thereby creating a solid foundation for her to continue implementing projects and continuing to write dreams for children with cancer. "I want to continue working, accompanying people with the same desire to help them. During the process of supporting them, I received a lot of love and trust from everyone. This is the motivation for me to try harder in the following years, said Ms. Thuan.

For her contributions to the project, Ms. Hoang Thi Dieu Thuan was awarded the "National Volunteer of the Year 2025" award by the Central Executive Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union.

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