3 Days - 18 Surgeries - Hundreds of Patients Examined

Amidst the brief intervals after clinical hours, following one consecutive surgery after another and a packed travel schedule, we were fortunate to converse with the torchbearers of Sala - an initiative originating from the heartfelt wish of the late Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ngo Van Toan. From the seeds of compassion he sowed over 15 years ago, that journey has been handed down and continued by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Manh Khanh and the young team of physicians at Viet Duc Friendship Hospital. Thanks to this, to this day, Sala steadfastly spreads the light of humanity along every path they traverse.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Manh Khanh had just concluded a surgery. His intense focus in the operating room presented outsiders with a moment that was both tense and miraculous; to him, however, it was merely the familiar rhythm of his profession. Without resting, he stepped out and began his story with a distant memory, to the place where the very first seeds of the medical profession were sown.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Manh Khanh - Deputy Director of Viet Duc Friendship Hospital - President of the Vietnam Orthopaedic Association - President of the Sala Humanitarian Club

A native Hanoian, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Manh Khanh was born into a family where both parents pursued medicine. For Hanoians, admiring night-blooming cereus (hoa quỳnh) is an elegant pastime: quietly waiting for the moment the petals unfurl, releasing a delicate yet captivating fragrance, a discreet, unostentatious beauty meant only for those who are patient and refined. Dr. Khanh's childhood, however, was associated with different nights. He did not sit beside his father waiting for night-blooming cereus to blossom, but he still grew up with a "beauty" in the night—those were the nights his father donned his emergency medical bag and set out to save lives, leaving behind a special "fragrance of the cereus"—the scent of dedication and compassion.

"My father graduated from Hanoi Medical University in 1962, when the war was still fierce. Following his assignment, he worked in Huong Son, Ha Tinh for 10 years, then returned to Bach Mai Hospital, joining the A9 Emergency Intensive Care Department. He was constantly on duty, returning home only once every three or four days. There were four siblings in the house, and we usually played amongst ourselves. My mother gave birth to my younger sister at night, so she named her Quynh - but the true "fragrance of the cereus" in my life was the image of my father. Back then, there were no telephones, so patients' families would come directly to our house. Whenever he heard a knock on the door, my father would immediately grab his bag and pedal his bicycle off to save people," Dr. Khanh recounted.

Those nights when his father rushed away, the emergency bag rattling on the bicycle, instilled a love for medicine in young Khanh's heart. From early childhood, he followed his father to Bach Mai Hospital and his mother to Hanoi Medical University. These seemingly trivial images became an inseparable part of Dr. Khanh's memories: His grandfather, who suffered a femoral neck fracture during an era when medical techniques were undeveloped, had to accept living without surgery and carried the sequelae for life. His grandmother underwent eye surgery when he was very young. His aunt experienced a severe peritonitis surgery, lying for months on the brink of life and death...

"All of those things, little by little, accumulated into a question within me: could I one day do better for patients like my own grandparents, aunts, and uncles?"

In the Nguyen family ancestral worship house, built nearly a century ago, hangs a horizontal lacquered board bearing the inscription: "Vạn tòng thiện" - all actions directed toward goodness. When he was young, Dr. Khanh did not understand it, but the older he grew, the more deeply he absorbed it. He shared that this spirit is like a "gene" passed down through generations. And that is also the bond connecting him with the spirit of the late Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ngo Van Toan - who was both a teacher and the founder of the Sala Humanitarian Club - as well as with all the brothers and sisters in the volunteer team.

"I am fortunate to have professional expertise, good health, and the conditions to practice my profession. Out there, some people are born disadvantaged, some have lost arms or legs, and others live in remote mountainous areas and have never had a proper medical examination in their entire lives. So why shouldn't I use my intellect, skills, and knowledge to help them? I give within the scope of what I am able to do, it's simply that."

A humble philosophy, yet it remains the enduring fragrance of the "cereus blossom" that bloomed in childhood... becoming a silent source of light, continuing to nurture Sala's 15-year journey, sowing acts of kindness for the community.

The story of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Manh Khanh reminds us of the journey every physician must traverse when choosing the medical profession - a path sometimes nurtured by family tradition, by a choice of dedication, or sometimes coming quite by chance, but once embraced, it becomes a lifelong vow to the lives of others. The 15-year journey of the Sala Humanitarian Club is the clearest testament to how a flower of compassion can blossom amidst adversity if it is nurtured with a sincere heart, preserved with high ethics, and transmitted with humanity.

The Sala Humanitarian Club was established in 2010 by the late Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ngo Van Toan - a talented and dedicated physician, affectionately called "Doctor Toan Bones" by colleagues and patients alike. Throughout decades of dedication to orthopedics, he left behind not only exceptional expertise but also a legacy of compassion: the spirit of saving lives without discrimination, working quietly for the pain of others. That exact aspiration laid the foundation for the Sala Humanitarian Club - a gathering of doctors, medical professionals, and kind-hearted individuals sharing the same goal of continuing the path he initiated.

The Sala Humanitarian Club brings together physicians, leading experts in orthopedics, as well as journalists and philanthropists sharing a common aspiration: bringing medical examinations, humanitarian surgeries, and educational support to disadvantaged people in remote, isolated, and border areas. Over time, the club has become a sustainable model, developing on three core foundations:solid professional expertise and knowledge transfer; a system of moral values; and a cohesive, reliable rear support base.

Over the past 15 years, the medical examination and humanitarian surgery trips led by the doctors of Viet Duc Friendship Hospital - the core force of the club - have brought new opportunities for life to countless patients. Each surgery not only helps restore physical function but also heals psychological wounds, opening up hope for numerous families.

That spirit of compassion - like a Sala flower in bloom - was handed down by the late Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ngo Van Toan to the younger generation. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Manh Khanh, along with his outstanding disciples, has continued to cherish that Sala flower, allowing surgical hands to continue reaching across regions, sowing new hope for less fortunate lives. For Assoc. Prof. Khanh, the memory of his teacher and the founder of the Sala Humanitarian Club remains intact. He spoke of the days when he could sit with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ngo Van Toan, sharing professional concerns and unfulfilled aspirations. When the club asked him to assume the role of President, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Manh Khanh felt deeply contemplative. He faced many pressures, and above all, the challenge of preserving the spirit of "selflessness" initiated by teacher Ngo Van Toan. But ultimately, his belief in the ethos that "volunteering means giving without expecting to receive" led him to accept the heavy responsibility. He understood that beyond strong professional expertise, the Sala Humanitarian Club needed accompanying compassionate hearts to support poor families who could not otherwise afford long-term medical treatment journeys. And his responsibility is to sustain that fire, spreading it so that more hands can join together.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ngo Van Toan and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Manh Khanh

"To accomplish this work, besides a doctor's expertise, there must certainly be accompanying compassionate hearts. Good expertise is a necessary condition, but the sufficient condition is the sharing of financial resources for patients. Because many poor families - especially children with congenital anomalies - even knowing they need surgery and medical examinations, lack the means for travel and lodging, and cannot even afford to bring their children down from the mountains. The State has many good policies, but there are still many out-of-pocket expenses patients must bear, such as travel costs, meals, and lodging... which represent a heavy burden. We doctors can help a few cases, but we cannot replace a massive resource pool. Therefore, for Sala's journey to be effective, the joint efforts of philanthropists, enterprises, and those wishing to accompany humanitarian efforts are essential. That was also the pressure when I accepted this role: I must spread the spirit of Sala so that more kind hearts come to the patients."

Dr. Phan Ba Hai - who has participated in Sala since 2011, recalled: "My first trip with Sala was in 2011, and I haven't missed a single trip since. At that time, I was a final-year resident doctor, privileged to accompany Dr. Toan. Each business trip was a special classroom: learning expertise, learning from patients, learning from reality. Thanks to that, I have matured into a true physician, and I want to continue passing on that spirit."

For Master, Doctor Do Vu Anh, being attached to Sala is a choice of spiritual depth: the continuation of tradition among Trauma Department 1, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ngo Van Toan, and the Club makes every trip a vivid lesson on the ideals of the medical profession. 'The older generation sows seeds for the next generation,' he said, 'and that very thing gives us the motivation to continue healing and saving lives.'

Doctor Pham Ngoc Truy (Bac Kan) once thought he had to say goodbye to the medical profession following a hand trauma accident. However, during a Sala mission trip, he was operated on by Dr. Toan himself, saving both his hands and his career path. From that moment on, he became a successor to the journey of Dr. Toan and of Sala.

The spirit of "hands-on guidance," passing down professional skills and medical ethics from the late Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ngo Van Toan, through Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Manh Khanh, quietly diffuses to subsequent generations like the silent yet enduring flow of a heritage.

And right within that journey, the Sala flower is placed in the operating hand, becoming a symbol of simple miracles: where skill, medical ethics, and compassion together forge ordinary life for disadvantaged human destinies.