Sympathy for father and son with congenital cataracts

(Baonghean.vn) - Having congenital cataracts and passing them on to his children, a difficult life is surrounding the family of Mr. Pham Hong Vinh (born in 1981), temporarily residing in village 1, Quynh Vinh commune, Hoang Mai town.

We visited Vinh’s family one afternoon. Seeing the skinny, small man groping to feed the chickens, we felt sorry for his situation.

Mr. Pham Hong Vinh's daily work.

Pham Hong Vinh was born with cataracts and could not go to school like other children. Due to economic difficulties and lack of knowledge, Vinh's parents were unable to take him to treatment in time.

Vinh was over 10 years old when he was taken to the hospital for examination and surgery on his right eye, but unfortunately it became infected and had to be removed. At 20 years old, Vinh returned to live with his mother and was taken to the hospital for a second examination to have surgery on his left eye, but because it was left too long, the surgery did not improve much. Vinh could only see the road vaguely and not people's faces clearly.

Vinh spent his youth in an old house, without any education, so his awareness and understanding of life outside was very limited. An acquaintance in Quynh Vinh commune took him in as a housekeeper for the family, cleaning the house every day and doing some odd jobs. Also here, the owner introduced Vinh to Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan, from Ha Tinh.

At that time, Xuan already had a daughter named Pham Thi Thu Hoai. Vinh and his wife had another son, Pham Hong Phu (born in 2010), but before they could be happy, sadness came when Phu learned to walk and showed strange signs: constantly running into the house walls and falling. Vinh and his wife borrowed money to take their son to Hanoi for examination and received the result that he also had congenital cataracts. Phu had surgery to replace the lens, but his eyes were still not as bright as normal people.

Although he cannot see clearly, Vinh still tries to raise livestock with the hope that his family's life will improve day by day.

Vinh and his wife are poor and have no house, so they have to stay with an acquaintance in village 1, Quynh Vinh commune. To have enough money to support their two children and their sick husband, Xuan has to stay up late and wake up early to make rice paper. However, her stomach pain and low blood pressure often make her faint and have to go to the hospital continuously, making her unable to continue doing heavy labor.

Despite difficult circumstances, Mr. Vinh always encourages his children to study well.

Currently, Ms. Xuan has returned to Ha Tinh to work as a maid, leaving her two children for Mr. Vinh to take care of. Every day, Hoai cycles 5km to school, and stays home to help her father take care of the chickens and raise pigs. Sharing with us, Mr. Vinh sadly said: The biggest wish now is for his wife to have a job in the countryside so that the whole family can reunite and take care of the children. As for a house to protect them from the sun and rain, the family really does not dare to dream of it.

Nguyen Thanh Thuy

(Hoang Mai Radio)