Exploring Life & Business with Dr. Thuy Ho Ellsworth of Bluebonnet Foot and Ankle Institute

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Thuy Ho Ellsworth.

Hi Dr. Ellsworth, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My name is Thuy, pronounced “Twee”…but every first day of school, I wanted to disappear when the entire classroom would laugh as the teacher butchered the pronunciation of my name. From kindergarten to 12th grade, I dreaded the first day of roll call. I hated it. They said it would be easier if I picked an American name, like all of my brothers and sisters, but I refused.

Despite my name, I yearned to blend in, in all other aspects, but everything about me stood out, like the banh mi sandwiches my mom packed, made from long, oblong baguette bread instead of sliced bread like the other kids. I was the only kid translating to my parents at “meet the teacher” nights, where my dad would come straight from work, wearing his custodial uniform. I was embarrassed by the dirt under his nails, the fact that he attended every school event or ceremony escaped me.

Class projects that involved telling your birthplace was a dreaded assignment because it meant that I had to reveal that I was born in another country, wishing I could just say, “Anywhere, USA.” The reason I hated this assignment was because it always lead to, “how did you get here?”

I was embarrassed to ever admit that we were “boat people” a term referencing Vietnamese refugees who had fled the country by boat or ship.

But with time, age, and wisdom, I’ve come to be proud of the hardships my family endured. The sacrifices my parents made leaving a successful life in Vietnam to start anew in the US.

What my mother and father (and many immigrants) accomplished, surviving an escape from Vietnam is in short, miraculous. My heart now aches at my younger self’s lack of appreciation of the dirt that was under my father’s fingernails and yet he always managed to attend every school event, ever my meet the teacher night, every awards ceremony.

The story of our journey to America:

It planned out for months, my mom discreetly sold our belongings and exchanged it for gold, my father meticulously planned the escape path. We would leave just in time to arrive at our pick up spot in the middle of the night so as not to be spotted and so all the kids would be tired, fall asleep and not make any noise as to draw attention.

One by one, my father linked us together with a long rope, a family of 8 (6 kids ranging from 4-16 years) so we wouldn’t lose each other or be swept away as we crossed raging rivers and meandering jungles to escape the Viet Cons or “Commies”. Years later, my father shared the grislh details of the deaths surrounding us, yet, he stayed focused and made sure our family made it to our pick up spot along the shore, where we laid low and slept until a boat made its ways to us and we quietly crept on. The boat was already packed with others sitting side by side, front to front and back to back and we squeezed in. It was a fishing boat, one my father had helped reinforce with paneling to prevent flooding and on its best day, could fit 60 and but somehow, even the boat could feel the desperation, and it managed to accommodate 114 (planned for 113 with one stowaway). We sat at sea for three days, thirsty and starved, our boat had been ransacked by pirates that knew people who were searching for a new life would be bringing with them all of their treasures they had left in this world. The same pirates kidnapped and snatched young girls off the boats, but my mother covered us and claimed we were all boys and her quick thinking saved us. The gold bars she had seen into her shirt also managed to escape them. By the third day, with all food and supplies depleted from consumption and pirates, we were all dehydrated and on the verge of death, we thought the massive fishing boat that drifted towards us was a dream or mirage. The large Thai commercial-size fishing boat loomed giant over our dingy and after it pulled us all up one by one, they fed us a feast of rice and fish. From there, we were brought onto the safe shores of Thailand. We lived in refugee camps from Thailand to Indonesia before immigrating to the United States in 1980, sponsored by a Baptist Church in Richardson, Texas and a Caucasian family of 4 who showed up the kindness and generosity we had hoped to find in our new home country.

Forty years later, I’m proud to share my story as an Asian American. I love my name and glad I refused to ever change it.

My name is Dr. Thuy Ho-Ellsworth and I stand strong and proud with my fellow Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) and I no longer wish to disappear or blend in.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There’s a picture of me at six years of age, wearing a second-hand dress purchased at a church garage sale and a macaroni necklace I had made in my Kindergarten class. I can see past the smile of my six years old self and recall the pain of racism she experienced on her first day of school in America. ⁣ I still remember the sting of that slap across my cheek on that first day of school. A student had been “assigned” to be with me during recess, she walked awkwardly beside me, head down, not really know what to say and not really knowing if I would understand if she did. A group of my new classmates walked by chanting derogatory sounds that mimicked an Asian language. Even at the tender, naive age of six, I knew it was meant to taunt me. The leader amongst them reached out and planted a hot palm hard against my cheek and they all scurried away laughing, leaving me sobbing and grabbing my cheek to soothe away the physical pain and worse, the pain of ridicule and rejection. My “assigned friend” stood by and didn’t say a word, just walked me back to the teacher and shrugged when she asked what had happened. Knowing well I couldn’t relay the events to my teacher with my limited English at the time, my assigned friend stayed silent.

And like a bad nightmare, this event would repeat itself for several days, and each day none of my assigned friends spoke up on my behalf. Unaware, my 1st grade teacher felt I was too immature and not ready to be in the 1st grade, so at six years old, they put me back into Kindergarten. Anday have seemed quite unfair to take steps backwards in my schooling, I welcomed the safer classroom environment and found friends who spoke Vietnamese and helped me to learn English. Not a day or year went by that I didn’t feel a step behind from where I should be, so I made up for it when I discovered that if I took a couple of extra classes in summer school and on top of my advanced honors classes in high school, I could graduate in three years time and make up for that lost time.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a podiatrist (foot and ankle specialist) who recently left a large multi-specialty clinic, essentially leaving “corporate health care” to pursue private practice and joined a group of practitioners who share a commonality of providing quality care to patients with the focus centered on patient care. As someone who started her first career as an Elementary school educator, education is still my primary focus when it comes to patient care. With my own experience and knowledge that minorities do not typically receive the same level of care and attention, I make it a focus to make sure that all patients receive the same quality of care they deserve, no matter their gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. In my free time, I like to connect to my local community by providing education about foot health.

Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I have discovered networking through social media platforms like Instagram and have connected with like-minded individuals and was interviewed last year for my efforts in joining other healthcare providers to speak up an advocate against AAPI hate and all forms of racism by sharing our own experiences who using our platforms to speak out against racism. Without platforms like Instagram and Facebook, we would not have had the opportunity to share and connect. I also use the platforms to communicate to aspiring medical students to motivate, encourage, and give advice.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bluebonnetfootandankleinstitute.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/drthuyhoellsworth/?hl=en