Dad! Please don't leave me.
A cruel tragedy struck in an instant, turning the single father – the sole breadwinner of the family – into a disabled person with his body no longer intact. On the brink of death, the heart-wrenching sobs of his young daughter, "Dad! Don't leave me!" pierced the hearts of those witnessing the scene.
Tragedy strikes the single father.
At the end of August, the Emergency Department of Nghe An Friendship General Hospital received a particularly serious work accident case: Mr. Hoang Van Thach (residing in Tan Thai hamlet, Tan Phu commune, Nghe An province) was admitted in a deep coma. High-voltage electricity directly struck his body, causing severe burns and necrosis.
To snatch him back from the brink of death, the doctors were forced to make a heartbreaking decision: to amputate both his legs and one arm.
From a healthy, resourceful man, the sole breadwinner of his family, Mr. Thach woke up in a hospital bed with his body permanently disfigured. Lying motionless on a white sheet reeking of disinfectant, convulsions from his wounds repeatedly drained his remaining strength. But the physical pain was nothing compared to the shattered heart of this poor father.
"Now I have no arms or legs... It's just the two of us, father and son, at home, and I don't know what the future holds. You're struggling, and I don't know what I can do to get through this difficult time..."- Mr. Thach's voice was weak and broken by each labored breath.
The burden of making a living falls on the shoulders of the young daughter.
Returning to her desolate home after spending many days by her father's bedside, Hoang Thi Hoai Thuong was still overwhelmed with shock. The house, already sparsely populated, now felt even colder.
Having been deprived of a mother's love since she was just one year old, Thuong grew up entirely dependent on her father's hard work. Recalling the orphaned circumstances of Mr. Thach and his daughter, Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh (Mr. Thach's sister-in-law) tearfully said: “From the time she was one or two years old, her father raised her from a young age because her mother left. My husband and I, as her older brother and sister-in-law, advised him many times to remarry, but he always refused, saying he was afraid someone wouldn't love his child. He said he wanted to stay single and raise his daughter, never to marry again. And now, tragedy has struck…”
Her father – her whole world and only source of support – suddenly collapsed. At the age of just over 16, an age when she should only know how to eat and study, Hoai Thuong had to face the harsh reality of poverty. Hospital fees, daily medication costs for her father, and countless other living expenses weighed heavily on her frail shoulders. Seeing Thach's elderly mother, bent over in her twilight years, feeding her disabled son spoonfuls of porridge, and then looking at the young student left alone amidst such hardship, everyone felt heartbroken.
When asked about the recent events, Hoai Thuong choked back tears: “Uncle, before, when my father was here, he did everything, but now I do everything alone, live alone, study alone. Soon I have to take care of my father, manage the household, and continue my studies. The future will definitely be much more difficult…”
Despite the hardships surrounding her in the empty house, the young girl persevered with each page of her books. Her dream of passing the entrance exam to a university suddenly seemed distant and unattainable. For Thuong at this moment, her greatest wish wasn't for herself, but simply for her father to recover, for someone to care for him so that he wouldn't leave her.
We desperately need compassionate arms to protect us.
Faced with the dire circumstances of the single father, the doctors and nurses of Nghe An Friendship General Hospital promptly provided support, both materially and emotionally. Ms. Thai Thi My Hanh, Head of the Social Work Team of the hospital, shared:""From being an ordinary person to becoming almost completely incapacitated, we stood by Mr. Thach to encourage him to overcome the initial psychological shock. The unit also proposed to the hospital leadership to implement initial support policies for him and his family."
Locally, the authorities and neighbors in Tan Thai often visit and share rice and vegetables with Thach. However, this help is like a drop in the ocean compared to the long-term treatment, rehabilitation, and life-sustaining journey he faces.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Tho, Secretary of the Tan Thai hamlet Party branch, expressed her concern: “From now on, the only person left to care for Mr. Thach every day will be Thuong. Besides the support from the hamlet, the Party committee, and the government, we earnestly hope that philanthropists and the community will join hands to help Mr. Thach's family cover their living expenses and ensure that Thuong's education is not interrupted.”
On one side is a disabled father with only one arm left, and on the other is his young daughter standing at the threshold of life with nothing but her bare hands. Hoai Thuong's future and the life of her unfortunate father now desperately need the outstretched hearts of compassionate people, so that these two orphaned lives do not fall into a dark dead end.
PLEASE SEND ALL ASSISTANCE TO:
Hoang Thi Hoai Thuong
Address: Tan Thai Hamlet, Tan Phu Commune, Nghe An Province
Phone number: 0846.232.789
Account number: 0846.232.789 (MB Bank)
Account holder: Hoang Thi Hoai Thuong
Reporter in charge of the program:
Journalist Nguyen Ngoc Dung
Phone number: 0913.064.060
