This innocent question from his 8-year-old son left Ngo Van Nam, a father in Hanoi, speechless.

As he took his son to school and watched classmates rush out to surround and hug him, the father could only stand in silence. For nearly two years, Ngo Minh Viet, a first-grade student at Linh Nam Primary School, had grown accustomed to hospital rooms, needles, and long rounds of chemotherapy due to leukemia.

“Dad, I’ll be able to go back to school soon, right?”

At the end of 2024, just three months after starting first grade, Viet’s family was devastated to learn that he had blood cancer.

“When the doctor told us the diagnosis, it felt like our whole world collapsed,” Nam recalled. He and his wife immediately put everything aside, focusing on one goal: doing whatever it took to keep their child alive.

The following days were a journey full of pain and tears. Viet entered prolonged chemotherapy sessions, painful bone marrow aspirations, and continuous fevers.

“The time my son spent in the hospital was more than at home. It was to the point that even when we returned, I would still startle in my sleep, thinking I was still sitting by the hospital bed, holding his hand tightly,” Nam said.

After nearly a year of fighting, the family thought a miracle had arrived when Viet's condition stabilized. He was sent home for maintenance treatment, only needing to visit the hospital periodically each month.

But the joy was short-lived. Less than six months later, Viet's disease relapsed with a poor prognosis. Everything collapsed once again. Nam and his wife took turns selling all their assets, clinging to every spark of hope to find any way to treat their son.

“Every time I watch him sleep, his hands still attached to infusion needles, or hear him ask: ‘I’m almost cured, right dad? I’m about to go back to school, right dad?’, as a father, I can only nod to encourage him, but my heart aches to the point of suffocation,” Nam said.

The simple joy of going to class

What makes the father both pained and proudest is his son's strength. The little boy has gone through six long rounds of chemotherapy but can still smile and say, “I’m not afraid.”

“He is happy when he can run and jump, eat his favorite food, or simply when today’s infusion is less than yesterday’s. He often tells me: ‘My hair has grown back, dad. I don’t need to wear a hat to class anymore.’ He puts in so much effort, even though he had to trade his childhood to enter a journey no one wants,” Nam said.

Viet's simple dream was to return to school and study like his classmates. After a long period of treatment in the hospital, Nam decided to take him to school to meet his friends.

Watching his son shyly step into the classroom, being hugged and questioned by friends before merging into their arms, was a moment that moved him to tears.

“Despite being exhausted, he still remembers the class, the friends, and the teacher; he still tries to write his own name as if to hold onto a part of his interrupted childhood,” Nam shared.

In that moment, the father also managed to record a video as a keepsake before the boy returned to the hospital for his next round of treatment.

“He only got to meet his friends for about 5-7 minutes during break, but he was very happy. When the drum signaled the start of class, he was still standing in the school yard, with eyes full of regret because he wanted to play with his friends a bit more,” he recounted.

According to Nam, what warmed the family’s heart the most was that even though he was absent, the teacher and friends always remembered him, frequently asking after and encouraging him. Gifts from friends and teachers are like a thread holding him to hope.

“Although there are many difficulties ahead, the whole family still hopes to see him become healthy one day, sitting neatly in a classroom just like any other child. That is also the greatest dream of our entire family right now,” Nam shared.

Ha Nguyen