An ethnic minority teenage girl has cared for her younger sister, who suffers from debilitating blood cancer, with motherly love during the little girl’s hospitalization far away from home over the past year.

Over a year ago, Ho Thi Tin, 15, and her six-year-old sister, Ho Thi Lan Tuyet, bid farewell to their parents and descended a mountain in A Luoi District, located in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue.

The two girls, of the Co Tu ethnic minority group, have called Room 403 of the Hue Central Hospital’s Pediatrics Center home ever since as they seek treatment for Tuyet’s enervating blood cancer.

Tin’s motherly love and tender care for her little sister have deeply moved the hospital’s staff and fellow patients and their families.

“Her sister’s illness has put Tin at a great disadvantage compared to her peers. Though staying in the hospital, it’s admirable that Tin adamantly pursues her studies,” Dr. Nguyen Thi Kim Hoa, one of the infirmary’s staffers, said.

“Our family is so poor. Our parents have their hands full working in the fields and caring for us, so they cannot visit us. We just talk on the phone and I sometimes take Tuyet back home for two days before returning to the hospital,” Tin said.

Living far away from home, Ho Thi Tin acts as both mother and sister to Ho Thi Lan Tuyet (left), and does all the chores herself, including doing the laundry, giving Tuyet showers and spoonfeeding her. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Once every month, Tin takes Tuyet (left) to the rooftop, where she cuts her hair and both do a good crying. Photo: Tuoi Tre

During her bouts of pain, Tuyet usually lies on her chest, while her dedicated sister keeps sitting nearby all day, telling her stories to ease her agony. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Tuyet is in excruciating agony as a nurse injects her, which is one of the little girl’s most painful routines over the past year. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Pain is over for now. It's fun time! The two sisters are pictured singing with other patients and doctors at the Hue Central Hospital’s Pediatrics Center. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The two sisters laugh at a park, putting aside their agony and hard work. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Tin studies at her small desk every night next to her sister’s bed. Photo: Tuoi Tre

With one of her daily routines involving nurses taking blood, Tuyet often role-plays as a doctor taking her sister’s blood as a game. Photo: Tuoi Tre

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