Thien Nhan's 18th birthday

"This is a decisive and important surgery for the boy. Thien Nhan, when he reaches adulthood, needs to have another surgery, on top of what he completed when he was a child. The surgery was originally planned for June 2019 in the US, but the Covid-19 pandemic happened. After that, it took another 2 years to discuss and arrange because at that time Thien Nhan was past the age for pediatric treatment, so the entire team of doctors and hospitals had to be changed...", journalist Tran Mai Anh, Thien Nhan's mother, said. It was also the time when she had just "finished" the manuscript of Losing a Leg is So Fun! (volume 2 of Journey of Love - Thien Nhan's Diary , published in 2019), to continue telling "a fairy tale born from the human heart...".

Once again, the mother and son's close companion, as well as the Thien Nhan Foundation and their friends - Italian doctor Roberto De Castro, stood by them. Before the surgery, the two men, one old and one young, shared with Thanh Nien about the journey they had been on together for the past 18 years, about their 18th birthday, about the way "youth is allowed to make mistakes..." or "it's best not to make mistakes"...

Witnessing and accompanying Thien Nhan's growth over the past 18 years, from the moment he was born he had to carry many physical wounds, had to fight for every opportunity to live and now he is a strong and cheerful young man on the threshold of adulthood, how do you feel?

Dr. Roberto De Castro: Of course, in my heart, the love and pride for Thien Nhan and the courageous journey he has gone through are always the same. Especially today, when he has grown up and reached an important milestone in his life: university student. It is also because of our special interest in Thien Nhan that my wife (Italian businesswoman Silvia Galandini - PV ) and I became friends. We often talk a lot about our child's future, and really want to send him to Italy to study so that we can be closer to him every day. But at the age of 18, Nhan has his own choices and we respect his decision.

And Thien Nhan, why did you turn down the opportunity to study abroad in Italy to become a first-year computer science student at VinUni University?

Thien Nhan: I chose computer science because I felt that my interests and concerns should be prioritized first. I am very interested in artificial intelligence (AI) and what it can or cannot do for humans, especially in the medical field. In my imagination, the job I choose will most likely be related to the Thien Nhan Foundation, which my mother and Dr. Roberto have put a lot of effort into, and I also want to continue to be able to help many children in the same situation as me.

Staying in Vietnam also means being close to family. I need family and family needs me. If there is one thing that AI cannot create, I think it is family affection.

A boy who was attached to a hospital bed and had to undergo many surgeries since birth, and was helped by doctors to rewrite his fate, why wouldn't you want to become a doctor?

Thien Nhan: According to my research, AI will help a lot in the medical field, creating great advances in the medical industry and I hope what I learn will be applied in a place where it is needed the most, helping people the most.

I understand that Dr. Roberto has made a very meaningful choice when he has spent almost his entire life traveling around the world to help sick children and bring a better future to boys like me. I really admire his great choice, but I think I can only learn from him to some extent, but I am not sure if I can follow his path.

At the age of 18, on the threshold of adulthood, how did he come to his career choice?

Dr. Roberto De Castro: I was fortunate to be born into a family where my parents always supported me in respecting all my decisions and letting me make my own career decisions. But on the other hand, I was also deeply influenced by my uncle, a general practitioner, who gave me advice that I will never forget: "Don't look for jobs that bring a lot of money, but choose jobs that help the most people."

From the beginning, I wanted to become a surgeon, to do something that would bring about a drastic change with my own hands. Becoming a pediatric urologist was a fateful choice and I have never regretted my decision. Although it is the same field of study, if you treat adult patients, you will have a much better income. But I am always happy to be an early bird, when my patients still have a lot of time ahead and I can help them as soon as possible.

- Ảnh 4. — Don't look for jobs that make a lot of money, choose jobs that help the most people - Dr. Roberto De Castro

There is a saying: "Youth is allowed to make mistakes". Did you ever make any mistakes when you were young, and did you often give yourself that right?

Dr. Roberto De Castro : Yes, youth is allowed to make mistakes. I myself have experienced different mistakes just because of my absent-mindedness and I am still absent-minded.

Thien Nhan: I also know that when people are young, they will be less responsible for their mistakes than adults. But I still think it's best not to make mistakes, because mistakes will have to be corrected, and that takes a lot of time.

("Speaking of mistakes, Thien Nhan has a very "classic" saying: "Thanks to being abandoned by the person who gave birth to me, I was lucky enough to be my mother's child. But if when I abandoned my child, I had wrapped it up a little bit and put it somewhere safe, so that it wouldn't be eaten by animals, then I would have less trouble now...", Ms. Mai Anh contributed).

Does a boy growing up surrounded by so many loving arms ever feel that his range of choices is narrower than that of his peers: that he must be really right, really good, to be more worthy of what he receives?

Thien Nhan: I never thought that love was a pressure. I simply love back, why should I be pressured? With the help I have received, if I am still young now, not old enough to repay them, it is not too late to do it later, I can help them, I can also help others, as long as I can bring joy to everyone like I have received.

- Ảnh 7. — Between them is the connection of love.

Italian cinema has a famous movie Life is beautiful . What is your concept of a beautiful life?

Dr. Roberto De Castro : As I said, I chose a career that does not bring much money but brings me a lot of happiness because I have constantly strived to be creative, always pioneered in my field to find new methods to help my children shorten their treatment time, and suffer less physical and mental damage. Because of those tireless efforts, I have received many invitations to collaborate around the world, to share with young colleagues new methods and valuable professional experience that I have accumulated over the years... For me, that is a happy life.

How old do you think you really are?

Dr. Roberto De Castro : If I didn't look in the mirror and just stayed on the marathon track, I would still believe that I was... 18 years old, like Thien Nhan now ( laughs ). I see in Thien Nhan my youth, his holy face reflects the good things that I have always aspired to since I was an 18-year-old young man, lost all his belongings at the university gate, but did not lose the fire in my heart, for decades. I see in Nhan the ability to lead others since he was young and in the middle of a group of friends. I believe that Nhan will also have a fire in his heart like me.

As you know, life is so complicated now, the world around us has so many bad things, so many unwanted things that can happen, as well as the instability in Europe and the Middle East... But each individual can choose the good things to aim for. It is impossible to change the world but we can change ourselves.

If you could go back to being 18, what would you change?

Dr. Roberto De Castro : I have never regretted the most important decision of my life: Becoming a pediatric urologist, if I could go back to the age of 18. Although along the way I have made mistakes, tormented and blamed myself, I accept it as a price to pay for the path I have chosen...

Someone once said that pain helps people grow. As this article goes to press, Thien Nhan will undergo what is expected to be his last surgery at the age of 18. A boy who has undergone countless surgeries and physical pain since birth, but has been kept alive in this life by loving arms, will pass the first days of 2025 with one last pain. The first-year computer science student said: AI can bring many things, including great advances in medicine; but there is one thing that AI cannot bring, which is love, the "fairy tales born from the human heart" that Thien Nhan Fund has diligently written over the past 18 years...