LD26228: Baby boy with thalassemia, grandmother with cancer makes family exhausted

Severe illness drags the whole family into a vortex of exhaustion

Born into the love of his family, thought to grow up peacefully like many peers, Nguyen Ngoc Gia Bao (6 years old, residing in Phu Xuan ward, Hue city) unfortunately suffers from the dangerous disease Thalassemia (congenital anemia).

When Gia Bao turned 4 years old, Ms. Nguyen Thi Quyen (40 years old, Gia Bao's mother) noticed that her child's skin showed abnormal yellowing. Thinking simply that her child only had skin allergies, Ms. Quyen took her child to a clinic in the area for examination.

However, through test results, doctors discovered that Gia Bao's blood index showed signs of serious abnormalities, far exceeding the manifestations of a common skin disease. Immediately, he was ordered to be transferred to Hue University Medical Center Hospital for in-depth examination and blood transfusion.

When I received that news, I was very shocked, my hands and feet trembled, I could not have imagined that my child would suffer from such a terrible disease," Ms. Quyen recalled.

Faced with the complicated changes in her condition after a week of hospitalization, Ms. Quyen asked to transfer her child to Hue Central Hospital with the hope of finding better treatment opportunities. To be fully on duty with her child, Ms. Quyen had to quit her business. Since then, the hospital has become the "second home" of the two mothers and children, where the 6-year-old boy is forced to maintain a periodic blood transfusion once a month to prolong his life.

Every time I have a blood transfusion, my child's spirit is very panicked. There are times when my child refuses to eat or drink, only knows how to sob because of restlessness and discomfort in her body. Seeing my child in pain, I can only hug my child and cry," Ms. Quyen said choked up.

The pain of illness of her young child has not yet subsided, tragedy continues to fall on the small family. In December 2025, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan (69 years old, Gia Bao's grandmother) had to be hospitalized at Hue Central Hospital after prolonged abdominal pain. Through a thorough examination, doctors diagnosed her with stomach cancer.

The bad news struck like a major shock, pushing the family, already exhausted by the days of treatment for Gia Bao, into a deadlock. To have someone on duty to take care of her elderly mother at the hospital, Ms. Quyen had to rush around. Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Hoa (Ms. Quyen's husband) was forced to quit his job at the company to stay home to take on household chores, both taking care of Gia Bao and taking care of Bao's younger brother who just turned 2 years old. The main source of income to maintain life and cover hospital fees for the whole family was almost completely broken.

The meager savings quickly ran out before the increasing treatment costs due to the illness of the two grandmothers and grandchildren, while ahead was still a long-term treatment journey with expensive surgeries.

The fragile hope of a 6-year-old boy

Currently, on average, the cost of medicine for Mrs. Lan and baby Gia Bao is about 3 million VND per month. In the months when Gia Bao's illness worsened and he had to be hospitalized for emergency treatment, this number jumped to 5 million VND. While Ms. Quyen was forced to quit her job to be on duty to take care of her elderly mother with cancer and two young children. Due to economic pressure, Gia Bao's father had to go back to work. All living expenses and hospital fees of the family depend only on his company salary of only 7 million VND/month.

Every day that passes, the young mother has to knock on doors everywhere to borrow money, clinging to each faint hope to fight for life for her two loved ones.

Now I don't know how to manage anymore. From relatives to neighbors, wherever I can borrow money, I have knocked on the door to have money for treatment for my mother and child. Friends who pitied the situation also stood up to call for help, but they could only hold on for a while...", Ms. Quyen said with tears in her eyes.

It is even more heartbreaking that this year Gia Bao entered 1st grade, seeing his peers happily carrying books to school, the boy also yearned to go to school. However, although the new school year has started for 3 weeks, Gia Bao has only attended class for exactly one session and then had to put aside his notebooks. His health is too weak, blood levels are continuously declining, causing his condition to often worsen, and he has to interrupt his dream of learning to read to return to the hospital bed.

The hope of regaining Gia Bao's life was just ignited when doctors concluded that the baby was eligible for bone marrow transplantation. However, the joy was not complete when pressure weighed heavily when the cost of the surgery was very high, and the family could not afford it on their own.

Therefore, baby Gia Bao's life at this time needs the support and sharing from the community to help him realize his dream of continuing to live.

Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Cuong - Head of Tinh Tam residential group (Phu Xuan ward, Hue City) said that Ms. Quyen's family is currently in great difficulty.

We hope philanthropists and benefactors will pay attention and support Ms. Quyen's family so that Bao and Ms. Lan have more funds to continue treatment and have the opportunity to overcome their illness," Mr. Cuong said.

All help for life situation LD26228 please send to Tam Long Vang Charity Social Fund - 51 Hang Bo, Hoan Kiem Ward, Hanoi. Account number (STK) 113000000758 at VietinBank Hoan Kiem Branch, Hanoi; Account number: 0021000303088 - at Vietcombank Hanoi Branch; Account number: 12410001122556 - at BIDV Hoan Kiem Branch.

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