New Year, New Leg!

Yesterday, visiting Australian physiotherapist Douglas Falconer accompanied Thien Nhan to a fitting for a new leg, provided thanks to the generous support of Viet Ortho Hanoi and French charity organization Coeur de Bambou. This new, higher-tech leg features a jointed knee and foot, and can be adjusted as Thien Nhan grows.

The fitting process is time-consuming and difficult, requiring a lot of fine-tuning on the part of the technicians and Thien Nhan's parents. Thanks to Ms. Au, Mr. Duc, Dr. Olivier and Douglas for their patience. At the moment, Thien Nhan finds the new leg cumbersome and scary to use - it will take time for him to adjust. We hope that 2009 will be the year that he learns to walk!


Check out more photos and a video of Thien Nhan's leg-fitting at http://bnok.vn/nhatkychulinhchi/2009/01/22/kich-kich-kich-kich-cho-nam-moi/ Mom Mai Anh and big brother Little Minh were there to cheer the tot on.

A Good Start to 2009

So far, 2009 has brought good news for Thien Nhan and his extended family, with his Aunt Elka and Uncle Thien welcoming a new daughter, Eloise, on January 12th. Baby Eloise arrived by c-section in Saigon, weighing 2.9kg. She's a healthy, contented and beautiful little girl.

In other news, since a story about Thien Nhan and the help provided to him by Singaporean cartoonist Lee Chee Chew appeared in the Singapore Straits Times at the start of January, CC Lee has collected another S$9,065 (US$6,055) for the tot from his readers and fans!

Check out CC Lee's comics and amazing fundraising efforts at http://chewonitcomics.blogspot.com/

Thanks again Singapore!

Super Brothers!

To help Thien Nhan to celebrate the New Year in style, one of his supporters in Hanoi presented Nhan and his two brothers, Big Minh, 8, and Little Minh, 3, with matching superman outfits.

The kids had a great time modelling their new costumes and are reportedly so fond of them that they refused to take them off. "They told me that they did not want to eat too much in case they grow out of them!" reports the boys' mom, Mai Anh.

Happy New Year

Three days ago, the Singapore Straits Times ran a story by journalist Judith Tan about Thien Nhan and the amazing help provided to him by Straits Times' cartoonist Lee Chee Chew. Since hearing of Thien Nhan's 's plight last year, the comic artist had raised and donated over S$32,000 via his 'Chew On It!' blog at http://chewonitcomics.blogspot.com/

Following this recent Straits Times' article, CC Lee reports that another S$5,000 in donations have come in during the past three days! What a fantastic start to the New Year for little Thien Nhan!

Thanks Judith Tan, thanks CC Lee and thank you Singapore!