In July 2013, Cao Thi Phuong Thao, 35, in district 4, HCM City, met Nguyen Khang Khuong, 32, at a bar in HCM City and she took a liking to the handsome young man with a gentle smile.

Khuong, the man who caught attention from many women, also felt a close connection with Thao, the newly met girl who was always optimistic and charming. After a period of dating, the two decided to marry to ‘be together until the end of their lives’.

In fact, they had to undergo a lot of hardships before they could become husband and wife. When her parents learned that their future son-in-law was a DJ, they strongly objected to the marriage. They did not want their daughter to marry someone working in showbiz, the environment they thought was full of temptations.

But Khuong's sincerity changed her parents' minds. They accepted and loved him as their own son.

"We got married and lived happily. From the time we were dating and even after we became husband and wife, he always gave all his love to me,” Thao said.

“He put aside his passion for music and joined me in business. When I gave birth, he took care of both mother and child by himself. To me, he is the perfect husband and father."

One day, Thao’s ran into trouble and she nearly went bankrupt. During her moments of despair, he encouraged her, becoming the motivation for her to move forward and start from the very beginning.

In 2017, the couple had a second child. At this time, their business prospered again and the couple decided to buy another house.

But just when Thao thought they could finally gain complete happiness, a heartbreaking event occurred: Khuong was diagnosed as contracting serious illness.

One day of six years ago, Thao discovered something abnormal on her husband’s face. At first, they thought that Khuong suffered from a toothache.

When his face started swelling more each day, they went to hospital for medical examination. The doctors then informed them that Khuong had a hemangioma. The tumor was growing fast, while there was no specific therapy for the disease. Khuong then had to undergo a lot of surgeries to remove the tumor.

The numerous major surgeries left one side of his face disfigured, and his voice changed to the point it was hard to understand.

Suffering from the serious disease, Khuong became depressed both physically and mentally. He was in pain and secluded himself in self-pity and loneliness.

Happiness

Loving her husband, Thao swallowed her tears back, worked hard to support the family, cared for the children and acted as her moral support. She also encouraged him spiritually, standing by him in the journey of treating his illness.

They came to see many doctors and used various medications, but his condition showed no promising signs. Witnessing his wife becoming miserable because of his disease, Khuong became weak and despondent, and thought of giving up.

There was a time when every day he just said things like he was dying, making Thao so miserable that she couldn't stop crying.

Once, not wanting her pain to explode in front of her husband, she left a note for Khuong to be reassured and quietly took a bus to Da Lat to cry.

Not wanting his wife to suffer more, Khuong often advised and urged Thao to find new happiness. He even tried to match her with other men he had vetted.

"He didn't dare say those words directly to me. He avoided me and then texted advice, urging me to find new happiness,” Thao recalled.

“Whenever he heard of a man who cared about me, he would investigate and advise me to open my heart to them. He even secretly vetted other men and then introduced them to me,” she said.

But Thao knows that she will only be happy if she can live with Khuong and their children. Thao encouraged him not to give up and to keep looking for a cure together.

Khuong’s condition has improved, and he has realized that Thao doesn’t want another husband, and just wants to live together with him.

The thought has helped Khuong have a positive outlook on life. The couple is planning to have one more baby, while Thao tries to work to earn more money to bring Khuong abroad for medical care.

Ha Nguyen