Thy was born in 2011 when she was 10 months old, her parents realized that she could not turn over, so they immediately took her to the Hospital. The doctor saw that Thy had difficulties in moving and speaking and diagnosed her with cerebral palsy. When her family heard the diagnosis they were surprised, saddened and overwhelmed. During that time, no family member left her side. Thy’s older sister did not want to go to school and wanted to stay at home to play with Thy. She was enrolled in Children of Vietnam’s Hope System of Care program when she was 5 years old. This is a system of wrap – around care for children with disabilities and their family to improve their quality of life. Thy and her family were provided wrap – around care based on their unique needs such as education, improving living environment, consultancy, surgery and rehabilitation, micro loan for developing livelihood and other services.
Based on the unique needs from the family, the HSC Project provided financial support to install a walker and other rehabilitation tools for her. Every day, Thy’s mother was very patient in working on rehabilitation techniques with her. In addition, the project also supported the cost of hiring a physical therapy technician to practice for Thy at home. Her teacher not only administered the therapy for Thy but also trained her parents on the new techniques so they could work on them every day. Thy’s mother shared: “We think that if we give the birth of our children, we will have responsibility for taking care of our children every day.”
We found significant improvements when visiting Thy quarterly, we were so happy when we witnessed she could stand and walk by herself! We recently were sent a video update of Thy running through her home and the joy that brought her brought such joy to all of us.
The love of family played an important role in the development and rehabilitation of Thy. When we first met Thy she just stayed all time in bed with the help from her mother in daily basic activities. But now, Thy can stand, walk and eat by herself. The dream of Thy’s family is now coming true. Thy’s mother wishes in next two years, that Thy will have chance to learn at suitable school with good teachers, and she will make friends who are in the same situation.
