Like a sunflower

I met Pham Ngoc Phuong Thao (Yen Bai ward, Lao Cai province) on a sunny July day. The journey this girl has gone through is not easy. On that journey there is pain, sorrow, fragile moments between life and death, but also happiness and sweetness. That touching story was told by Thao in the book "Live life to the fullest because life is too short" which brought tears to many readers and inspired many people.

Life events

With a voice still having some difficulty speaking due to the intubation, Thao said: "One day in early winter 2010, when I was 15 years old, on my way home from school, I unfortunately had an accident."

The accident left Thao with a ruptured rectum, a ruptured bladder, a broken pelvis, a ruptured diaphragm, and severely crushed the back of her body. Due to the long hospital stay, two-thirds of her left lung was removed and her entire stomach was removed due to complications. Those injuries seemed too much for the 10th grader's body to bear.

From a little girl with a peaceful home, Thao's life has been tied to a hospital bed. Over a year of treatment at leading hospitals across the country, Thao has undergone dozens of major surgeries lasting many hours.

The number of more than 100 units of blood transfused is enough to show the terrible extent of the accident. There were times when it seemed impossible to survive, but with the tears of her mother and the love of her father, along with the enthusiasm of good doctors and the care of many people, Thao miraculously overcame the critical condition.

However, the hardships did not stop there. The journey of recovery was a real challenge. Thao began to learn to speak like a two-year-old child. Due to lying down for so long, her legs seemed paralyzed. The little girl experienced pain once again from learning to walk in the piercing cold of a freezing winter day.

However, every time she saw her mother's gray hair and her father's haggard appearance after the long months of following her to all the hospitals, Thao felt she needed to recover and walk on her own two feet.

Like a sunflower always facing the sun, Phuong Thao gradually returned to life. Her first words, her first steps made everyone burst into happiness.

Nothing is impossible

During the months lying in bed, the joy of the little girl was learning English and reading books. Thao's idols were speaker Nick Vujicic and translator Nguyen Bich Lan. Those two people, although born with a damaged body or carrying a serious illness, built their own fairy tale and inspired many people. Thao also wished she could live like that. She not only went back to school after 2 years of absence but also made an effort to become a student of the English Language Department, Banking Academy. The sunlight warmed her youthful soul again. That was also when Thao began writing the first lines of the book "Live life to the fullest because life is short".

Under the pen name Thao Min, in nearly 300 pages, the author tells her own story of fighting death and life after the incident. As the title of the book, Phuong Thao wants to convey the message: Living life to the fullest is to cherish every minute, every second; living life to the fullest to see that what you have is precious; living life to the fullest to not waste your youth, silently thanking the past to have the present moments. That is also the reason why this book makes a difference in the current stream of self-improvement and self-development books.

Right from the first pages, the author wrote: “We all have difficult times. Difficulties are gifts cleverly disguised as challenges, giving us more strength. I hope that through my story, I can somehow help people find faith and motivation in life.”

Every page of the book is filled with pain. It was everyone's love and her own efforts that helped the little girl with two lovely pigtails to be born again.

Artist Lai Hien Luong, who illustrated the book, shared: “Although Phuong Thao’s writing style is not as polished as a professional writer’s, it is her simplicity and sincerity that made me agree to illustrate. The girl on the cover is both the character’s silhouette and the image of the reader turning the pages of the book. I hope that when the reader opens the book, the words will bloom like flowers, blossoming from the soul.”

By the end of 2024, the book will be published by Dan Tri Publishing House. The book is currently sold at Fahasa Bookstore System, Dong Tay Bookstore and e-commerce platforms such as Tiki, Shopee...

Continue writing the dream

With extraordinary efforts and optimism to overcome the pain of illness, Thao was not only able to attend university but also met the love of her life. It was a perfect ending to a youthful journey that, although bumpy, bore sweet fruit.

Currently, Thao is dedicated to teaching English to children. She finds joy in her young students. In addition, her passion for drawing and playing the piano also brings this young girl moments of relaxation.

Thao shared: “I see that life is so fragile. Through this small book, I hope that everyone, no matter what obstacles they encounter, will try their best and be as lucky as I am.”

Instead of saying goodbye, Thao played a song for me. The melody of the song resonated in the summer afternoon. If life is like a song, then hopefully, Thao's life will only have happy melodies.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/nhu-doa-huong-duong-post649454.html