Angels In The Dark 2

ANGELS IN THE DARK (the story of Young cancer patients in K2 Children Hospital, Thanh Tri District, Hanoi)

“Thuy, Thuy, something wrong with your son (Hung). Wake up Hung, wake up, don’t scare me!”.

Thuy screamed and rushed to Hung’s bed from the bed of her child (also a cancer patient). Hung, 6 years old, feeling tired and asleep, is sitting still in the bed corner, leaning the head on his little arms, not responding to any question or care. Not until seeing his mum (Thuy) rushing back does Hung cry to his mum “Mummy, help, my head is in pain”.

“Mummy knows it hurts darling. If you love me, please don’t give up” cries Thuy while hugging her son’s head on which there isn’t much hair left due to side effects of medicines. Thuy looks much older than expected for a 31 years old mum. Knitting his brows to take on the pain, Hung doesn’t say a word but nodding his head quietly in response.

I feel so emotional looking at Hung’s little head, legs and arms whose skin is covered by numerous large blacked spot resulting from transmission needles.

“PLEASE TAKE ME BACK TO SCHOOL!” Ms Vu Dieu Thuy, Hung’s mum as mentioned above, tells us her story of her son Hung. For some years, she retired from her job as a teacher (of Cat Tru Secondary School, Cam Khe, Phu Tho Province) to take care of Hung in this hospital. Hung went to Year One at school only to see himself carried to the hospital 16 days later. The last time he was allowed to go home seeing his family was back in Tet (Traditional New Year Celebration).

“Doctors said cancer had spread to Hung’s brain thus getting very serious. I must stay here with Hung, I don’t want to leave him alone. What if…” says Thuy. She continues “I have to leave Hung’s young sister at home for my parents to take care of. As I am far away from home for so long, my baby at home even forgets me and cries as if am a stranger”.

While listening to his mum’s conversion with me, Hung sometimes gently pulls his mum’s top and cries “Mummy, I feel hurt, Mummy, please let me back to school”. “Love you my dear, only 100ml, it will be alright soon” replied Thuy. Knowing the kids are in pain getting sugar transmitted to their little bodies through needles, Thuy gently rubs on needle spots of both her son and Thanh (another young cancer (Leukaemia) patient lying on a nearby bed)

I call these little children: Hung, Thanh, Duc, Lan-Anh, Ha, etc.. who are fighting all sorts of cancer in this Children Ward as Angels in the dark because only Angels can sing while fighting pain since their early saddened lives. Sticked on these poor children arms are dozens of needles always ready for transmissions. Over 4 years in this Hospital, Thuy cannot count how many times her son and his friends got injections and marrow samplings which are very very painful. As a mother, Thuy also feels very painful seeing them suffer so much.

Hung appears to be a very brave little gentleman. He once cried and begged her mum to spare him of the painful marrow sampling. However, when seeing his mum cry asking him to let the doctor do the procedure and promising him of returning to school after leaving the hospital, Hung stops crying. Thuy knows that her son was in immense pain as tears were pouring out of his eyes. It is hard to comprehend how this 6 years old boy can have such strength.

“ANGEL’S SINGING” Like other young kids, these young patients also love to go to the Zoo, to Hoan Kiem Turtle Tower but they just can’t. Their bodies are still too weak not to mention all sorts of needles and medical pipes sticked on them 24 hours. They have to be on the hospital’s small and hot beds all the time.

When we arrive, a young 13 years old boy from Xuan Truong, Nam Dinh province named Bui Trung Duc who has quite an intelligent & bright face is reading an old book of Vietnamese fold tales. Meanwhile, next to his bed, a young girl named Lan-Anh is reading a book of children jokes. We think that those books have brought a lot of comfort to these young patients as like Duc and Lan-Anh they have already read the books over and over again. Duc’s mum tells us his circumstances. Duc was found to have cancer in his bone when he was in year Six. He had to leave school from the second semester for the hospital. With a very bright face, Duc said that he

is an excellent student. He used to be a chief of his class. If he has a chance to come back to school he believes that he can manage to be the top student again.

A young mind like Duc could not comprehend how serious cancer is so he is still happy like a normal child. When feeling well, Duc has good times laughing when playing pillow throwing with friends around his bed. His naivety however makes Duc’s loving mum feel very sad.

Next story is about young Thanh, a 9 year old boy from Ung Hoa, Hanoi. Thanh appears to be very smart and is considered the most active boy here. Everyday Thanh longs for Tuesdays as these are only days that the hospital’s children playground is open. During other days, this is locked and these poor children can only look into the playground through steel bars. Sadly, Tuesdays are also the days of pain when they have medicine transmissions.

The playground doesn’t have anything special. Easy to get wet even under a little rain, the ground only has old things such as see-saw which can easily be found near old community apartments. However, this playground is very special to these young patients helping to brighten their spiritual life besides with mum’s bedtime stories. These stories always have fairy tales but sadly there has not been any fairy helping the young kids to overcome cancer. They also have a little room with toys but they can’t just come to take toys and… take the toys as their own possessions. In terms of toys, kids are the same! They want to have their own toys regardless of what it is: a little car, a little doll, etc.. as each of the toys seems to contain lots of tales and hopes that only kids can imagine. This is the reason why they wish to have teddy bears, dolls sleeping besides them every night. In this hospital, sadly, these small wishes are not even realistic.

Their mums, dads are normally poor. Most of them are farmers. They consider these young patients as their own children as do the children to all of them. Ill-fate seems to connect these parents together. Being besides each other for months, even years, they see one another as family and share all the chores like cooking, cleaning. They also have one thing in common. Everyday they hope for time to stay longer so they can spend more time with their sons and daughters during last moments of their beloved children’ lives when medical treatments are no longer effective during cancer’s final periods. Sometimes I even wish that these young Angels can fly to Heaven a bit early to run away from the haunt of hospital and unbearable pain.

While we are chatting to Lan-Anh, a young pretty girl even while suffering from hair loss. We see on the next bed that Hung, again, experiences a temperature loss to 34deg. Hung’s mum rushes to get him a glass of hot water with ginger and sugar. Hung expected this so although not comfortable with the hot and ginger flavour he tried to drink spoon after spoon of it.

Although being very sad, the parents know that they cannot show any moment of distress in front of their children. They understand that they have to be there to brighten these Angels’ lives and not otherwise. However, they cannot withhold tears in the dark once their little Angels are deep into sleep. They know that they can’t control the ill-fate taking the children away from them.

Young L is only 2 years old with such lovely eyes. Painfully, fate is taking away her sight very soon without her knowing this will happen. While her mum carries her along the corridor with all the usual needles and transmitting pipes connected to a medicine bottle, L peacefully closes her eyes, with a teddy bear on her hand she sings – an Angel’s singing. Vietnamese Article by Dinh Hien Mr. Pham Huu Tuan, a member of Cau Giay Classic Vespa Moto Club, tell us “last month when the Club visited these young patients, we called for contributions to upgrade the children playground and buying more toys to the children. Back then he saw young H reading a story out loud. When he came back a month later, she is no longer alive”. Tuan is afraid to see more young lives lost every time he comes back.

“Bedtime stories always have fairy tales but sadly there has not been any fairy helping the young kids to overcome cancer”. By wring this article, we hope that our young cancer patients in K2 Children Hospital will be supported by not only Cau Giay Classic Vespa Moto Club but also, kid loving souls from all corners of Vietnam and the world through simple but extremely special presents such as letter, teddy bears, dolls, children books, etc… These presents will be great spiritual encouragement and it will be our great honour to pass your presents these young children.

Translated by Phong Pham, Gold Coast 2 June 2009. Best wishes to our Young Angels. [email protected] - +61 4 1516 6789.