A program has run on a regular basis in the central city of Da Nang to get cancer patients, including terminally ill people, to leave their beds for the stage, where they sing their hearts out and feel motivated to battle their debilitating illness.   

The program, which is held every two weeks at Da Nang Cancer Hospital, has provided great fun for its cancer patients and their families in recent times.

At 3:00 pm on a recent day, volunteers erected a stage, around which expectant patients and their families sat.

Those in their terminal phase were walked to their seats by volunteers, with several in wheelchairs or on an IV drip.

“I’m combating cancer in its final phase. It’s great to see my fellow patients in their best mood today,” Pham Duc Kien, an in-patient, said while stepping out from his room.

He then ventured onstage and sang one of his favorite songs to the applause of other patients, their families and volunteers.

Overcoming their initial stage shyness, the patients soon brought out their best with the accompanying dances by volunteers, though their music was sometimes out of tune.

Nguyen Thi Su was deeply moved seeing her husband singing onstage.

She and her husband left their home in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum and sought treatment at the hospital two weeks ago.

“I have not seen my husband smiling for ages. I don’t mind all the troubles or selling off our property to seek treatment, but I ache terribly seeing him writhing with pain. All my misery dissolves at his beaming smiles and optimism,” Su said.

Nguyen Trong Minh, who has called the hospital home for almost one month and is confined to a wheelchair, toddled unsteadily to the stage’s “spotlight” upon hearing his name.

The man, who hails from the central province of Phu Yen, began his song tremblingly but soon progressed seamlessly.

He jokingly wrapped up his performance saying the song helped him win over his wife’s heart.

Tears of happiness rolled down the cheeks of Lieu, Minh’s wife, who sat among the keen audience members.

Lieu revealed she and her husband would sing to each other, but their singing and laughter have been silenced and replaced by moans of pain since her husband was diagnosed with liver cancer.

“He can hardly walk, let alone sing to such a crowd like this,” she added.

According to Ho Duong Dong, a lecturer at the Da Nang University of Science and Technology and a member of the organizing board, the music program, which also features guitar and flute accompaniments, is “directed” and staged by volunteers.

The organizers called for support from local schools and clubs to ensure the program’s regularity and quality.

“We really hope to bring cheerfulness, optimism and mental strength to cancer patients in their daunting course of combating their debilitating illness,” he said.

The activities of another project called “One Painting, Lots of Hopes,” which is run by lecturers and students of the Da Nang University of Science and Technology and began last year, have also been incorporated into editions of the music program, Dong added.

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