Taipei, Jan. 5 (CNA) God helps those who help themselves -- and others. At least, this is true for Huynh Thanh Thuan, a Vietnamese doctor who had leukemia and received a bone marrow transplant in Taiwan through the help of many people he had never met, all because Thuan did not hesitate to lend a helping hand to others.
Huynh, 27, received a bone marrow transplant Aug. 24 last year in National Taiwan University Hospital, four months after he came to Taiwan. Still recovering from the operation, Huynh is expected to go back to Vietnam in mid-January, where he will continue to be tracked by NTU Hospital for as long as five years.
In addition to doctors of NTU Hospital, Huynh has one more man to thank -- Lai He-hsiung, the man he called "Daddy Lai" Thursday. Lai, a volunteer for the non-profit Tzu Chi Foundation, met Huynh in Vietnam during a medical mission and decided to help him after learning of his illness.
Huynh, a well-known neurologist at Cho Ray Hospital in Hue, Vietnam, had been voluntarily working with the Tzu Chi International Medical Association Free Clinic in Vietnam prior to his illness.
Coming from a poor family, Huynh could not afford his medical bills and knew there is only limited treatment available in Vietnam.
"Mr. Lai immediately contacted us and NTU Hospital. Luckily, we found a marrow match within two weeks, " said Chen Nai-yu, a staff worker at the Bone Marrow Transplant Center of the Tzu Chi Medical Center who works for the Tzu Chi Marrow Donor Registry project.
Finding the marrow match is the first and most important step, but the problem did not end there. Tzu Chi raised NT$1.2 million in Vietnam to help Thuan. The medical bills far exceeded this amount, however. "But Tzu Chi regarded this case as 'a life salvage project' and again covered the extra expenses," said Chen.
Lai did more. Chen said Lai refurbished his house to accommodate Huynh and his girlfriend, who was also a doctor but quit her job to be with Huynh. A Vietnamese caretaker was also hired to take care of Huynh. "Lai, who has six sons of his own, treated Huynh like his seventh, which is why Huynh called him 'Daddy Lai,'" Chen said.
Huynh became the first foreign patient to receive a bone marrow transplant in Taiwan.
"Huynh deserves to recover from this horrible illness. He is a bright young doctor who helps people. That is why all the people around him, including Tzu Chi members, tried to save his life, " Chen said.
The Tzu Chi Foundation is a non-profit, volunteer-based organization founded in 1966 by Dharma Master Cheng Yen in Taiwan. The foundation to improve social and community services, medical care, education and humanism in Taiwan.
The Tzu Chi Marrow Donor Registry was founded in October 1993 and is the largest Chinese marrow donor data bank in the world.