Being different from other children can make your life rough, but usually you can count on your parents for love and support. Min Anh never had that luxury.
He grew up in an orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Even among the many orphans with conditions like spina bifida and developmental disorders, Min always stood out from the group. He suffers from a genetic skin disease called Ichthyosis.
The disease leaves masses of dry, scaly, dead skin all over Min's body, which earned him the nickname Ka ("fish" in Vietnamese). The condition is painfully itchy, and orphanage workers were actually forced to tie down Min's hands to keep him from scratching.
This is the sad state that Min was living in when he happened to meet Brenda Smith, a British woman who was visiting the country as part of a charity bike trip. Brenda and her husband Baz spent time meeting orphans, including Min, and they were touched by their stories.
And soon, fate would bring Brenda back into Min's life in an incredible way...
Just a year after their visit to the orphanage, Brenda's husband died. To honor his life, Brenda devoted herself to looking after Vietnam's orphans.
She spent months visiting the hospital she had toured on her trip, spending time with the children there and acting as a replacement grandmother to them. But Brenda's connection with Min was the strongest of all.
"All he wanted to do was sit in my lap. I sat there for a couple of hours and didn't want to move. I just fell in love with him and it's been like that ever since," Brenda said in an documentary about their relationship, A Boy Called Fish.
Soon, Brenda was taking the little boy on day trips outside the orphanage, and realized that with love and attention he could live a healthy, normal life. "Just walking around the supermarket is like a treat to Min Anh because the cold air soothes his skin," she explained.
Brenda is still working to help Min and other children at the Tu Du Peace Village orphanage. You can learn more by watching this documentary about her relationship with Min.
Warning: this video contains graphic content.
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[H/T: NDTV]