A beautiful teacher like a swan deformed to 28kg, trying to become a million-view Tiktoker

Nguyen Phuong Anh, born in 1986, a teacher at Vinh Tuy Kindergarten (Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi) has a strange disease of unknown cause. From a fair, pretty g.irl, she seems to have transformed into a different person in appearance.

After 17 years of taking care of "buds on a branch", overcoming the "ugly duckling" complex, she still sticks with the teaching profession and devotes her love to children. This preschool teacher has also become a million-view TikToker, often posting funny clips to spread positive life energy to everyone.

Phuong Anh is the second c.hild in the family, she has an older brother. She was born healthy, grew up to be a beautiful g.irl. At the age of 18, a big event called systemic sclerosis struck. This very rare disease with no known cause caused the g.irl's body to be deformed, her face completely changed, and many internal organs were also damaged.

No longer the pretty g.irl she once was, her jaw muscles are contracted, her teeth protrude, her eyes and nose are also shrunken, her limbs are necrotic, and her b.lood circulation is poor, causing her s.kin to darken. "I have lost a lot of weight, I used to weigh 42kg but now I only weigh 28kg, and my weight decreases a little every year. I am currently receiving treatment at Bach Mai Hospital, and I have to go to the hospital for regular check-ups every month. In addition to taking Western medicine, I also take traditional medicine to improve my health. Although the medical treatment is covered by insurance, the cost I have to pay is about half a month's salary," Phuong Anh shared.

The illness became a barrier that caused Phuong Anh to encounter many difficulties in work and life. Every time she went out, she often faced people's fearful and curious eyes. Self-consciousness was inevitable, but thanks to her carefree and optimistic personality, she told herself that when the illness came, she had to accept it and happily continue living. She always told herself: Just be happy, move forward and everything will pass.

Luckily, Phuong Anh is loved by her family, who always create conditions to help her have the best spirit to continue living happily and healthily. In the summer, she drives her motorbike to work, in the winter, her health is weaker, she has more pain, her father takes her to and from school or she takes a motorbike taxi.

"Recently, I feel much weaker, not because I'm too tired from work, but because my illness is getting worse. But for the sake of the children's smiles, I still try to go to class every day, because every day at school is a happy day," she confided.

There were times when Phuong Anh was very miserable because of her illness and her changing appearance, but thinking of the love her family and friends gave her, she suppressed her pain and courageously faced the truth that she had to live with an incurable disease.

Nguyen Phuong Anh once dreamed of becoming an actress, participating in several acting competitions and winning awards. However, her parents were worried that their daughter’s health was poor, making it difficult for her to pursue an artistic career. She thought that with her singing and dancing abilities and her love for children, becoming a preschool teacher was the right choice.

In 2007, after graduating from the Preschool Education major, Phuong Anh passed the civil service exam and was assigned to work at Vinh Tuy Kindergarten. When she first started working, she always felt self-conscious and inferior in front of children, because although the students were still young, they already had a distinction between good and bad looks. However, during the process of contact and bonding, the children felt her love and energy, so they loved the teacher like a second mother.

She said: "When some parents saw me, they thought this teacher didn't know what was wrong, and how could she take care of their children with such health. But after a while of me raising the children, the parents had a different view. Many parents had their first c.hild in my class, and then wanted their second c.hild to come to my class to study."

Not only is Phuong Anh loved by the children, she also receives a lot of affection from her colleagues at school. Despite her illness, she is always active in teaching and in movement activities.

As a long-time close colleague, teacher Duong Thanh Nga always considers Ms. Phuong Anh as an example and model to learn about life's will. Phuong Anh not only always completes well the work of a preschool teacher which is very hard and tiring, but also enthusiastically supports her colleagues in her professional field and other tasks within her ability.

Owning a TikTok channel with more than 32 thousand followers, 751 thousand likes and clips with millions of views, Nguyen Phuong Anh is inspiring many people. "I'm just a kindergarten teacher. Be optimistic and love life. Please follow me" is the cute introduction on her TikTok account.

Like many other young people, Phuong Anh turned to TikTok during the COVID-19 pandemic. She often recorded happy clips to spread positive things, but unexpectedly those clips went viral and received millions of "hearts" from the online community.

"When I posted old photos and current photos due to my rare disease, people were very surprised. I only posted those short clips for fun because I was embarrassed to show my ugly pictures online, but I accidentally attracted so many views," Phuong Anh shared, saying that there were very few negative responses, criticism, or ridicule. Most of the responses were positive; they were good wishes, peace, words of encouragement, and even advice and instructions on how to treat the disease.

Because of her unattractive appearance, Phuong Anh's love life has not been smooth. She had a relationship when she first got sick, but after many years she proactively stopped because she thought this relationship would "go nowhere". The 8x teacher thought that with such a disease, she should not have deep feelings for anyone, even though she always wanted a man to be by her side to protect her. Simply, she thought that was impossible.

Currently, she tries to focus on taking care of herself more and finding other joys. After class, it is time to rest, spend time with family, and socialize with friends. At home, she often practices gentle exercises like yoga to maintain her health.

Friends around her always love her, many friends from primary school still keep in touch. They text her regularly, encouraging her when she is sad. Colleagues also always take time to confide in her, share the joys and sorrows in work and life, and are willing to spend happy weekends with her to relieve stress and maintain a positive mindset.

Asking to deduct class funds to give year-end gifts to teachers, an angry mother posted a direct complaint T.P14:34:57 27/12/2023The incident is causing a stir in the online community, when the parent association of a class demands to use the class fund to give year-end gifts to teachers. Frustrated by the unreasonable expense, a mother decided to speak up and post on the forum to clarify the situation.