Seeing the five-year-old boy jumping up and down restlessly on his sole left leg, people just cannot believe it is the same child found abandoned with his right leg and genitals bitten off, five years ago in the central province of Quang Nam.
 |
| Phung Thien Nhan is leading a happy life after his latest surgery in Italy. — VNS Photo File |
But it is true.
Thien Nhan survives and recently returned home from his latest surgery in Bologna, Italy, aimed at restoring him to his true gender. Now, although there are still a few remaining steps from a life of normality, he is well on his way.
According to his surgeon, Dr Roberto DeCastro, the eight-hour operation was a success, and everything went as planned.
Nhan won\'t have to ask his mother, "Mummy, where is my penis?" anymore.
And Tran Mai Anh, his adoptive mother, won\'t have to answer that heart-breaking question ever again.
A loving home
Phung Thien Nhan was born on July 15, 2006 to a 17-year-old girl, whose poor living conditions forced her to abandon the infant under a pile of papaya leaves not long after he was born.
Mauled by an animal that ate his right leg and genitals, Nhan miraculously survived and was taken to a nearby hospital before being returned to his mother\'s family.
Unfortunately, the family\'s abject poverty meant they couldn\'t feed him or keep him clean, let alone pay for the medical treatment he required.
Mai Anh heard about the child\'s plight, and adopted him in late 2007.
More than three years have passed and Nhan now lives in a cosy family home, with grandparents, parents, and two brothers.
The surprising and amazing thing is his two adopted brothers have taken him in and accepted him as one of the family, with no questions asked. Even during their most childish of fights, they\'ve never used the term ‘adopted brother\', or given him any cause to feel like an outsider.
Big brother Thien Minh proudly says that he is currently Nhan\'s head-nurse, in charge of changing his bandage every day.
Minh accompanied Nhan on his latest trip to Italy and witnessed his little brother with hundreds of needles sticking out of his body in the hospital bed. He says he is not scared of looking at the wound if it means he can help his brother.
To Greig Craft, the whole story including the boy\'s survival and his adoption, is "unbelievably incredible". Craft is Chairman of the Asia Injury Prevention Association and Nhan\'s Godfather.
Craft read about the boy in a local newspaper five years ago, and made a donation to his plight. But that wasn\'t enough for Craft so he decided to become his Godfather and together with Mai Anh\'s family, he has been around the world finding ways to cure their son.
Nhan has been taken to Thailand, Singapore, Germany and the US for treatment.
Craft said the most challenging aspect they had faced was finding a doctor who was willing to reconstruct Nhan\'s male genitalia, rather than performing a gender reassignment operation on the boy.
"We couldn\'t find what we were searching for until we found about Dr DeCastro through a doctor in the US, " says Craft.
Dr DeCastro agreed to perform the surgery for US$50,000, half his usual fee. The doctor has successfully performed 29 similar operations, but unfortunately, an infection developed during Nhan\'s trip home and may partially affect the final results of the procedure.
However, Dr DeCastro confirmed that procedure had been largely successful.
"The child\'s good mood and the support of his dear parents and friends comfort me," he says.
Nhan needs to take pictures of his progress and send them to the doctor every week, and positive progress has been reported so far.
Master connector
The surgery\'s success was a big step in Nhan\'s life, and also in Mai Anh\'s. But to this mother and her son, this is just the beginning of a long road ahead.
He will need a second operation in mid-2012 and the last two operations when he turns 14-15, depending on his condition.
But to Mai Anh, Nhan\'s journey is much longer than that.
"The day Nhan grows up and gets a job will be a happy ending to the story that many people eagerly anticipate," says Mai Anh, "but it will not be a happy ending for me and Nhan if we receive too much and do not give anything back."
Nhan is expected to continue to help other unfortunate people in his position find their way in life.
The two surgeries in the US in 2008 and 2009 cost more than a combined $45,000. Craft says three quarters of the expense have been covered by donations that came pouring in from thousands of people, not to mention the spiritual help they have received over the years.
Mai Anh and Craft shares that they have collected files on other unfortunate children like Nhan, and Dr DeCastro has agreed to visit Vietnam to perform surgery on them in September.
The doctor also promised to share his penis reconstruction techniques with local peers.
"This is thanks to Nhan. He is truly a master connector. His strength and desire to live is moving people not only around the country, but outside its borders too," says Craft.
Nhan, when asked, understands that he is here today thanks to the efforts of thousands of people around the world.
"He never cries during surgery, examinations or injections. Our boy is brave and I know that he will make it a happy ending in his own way," says Mai Anh.
And as she said, this is just the beginning.