The lingering regret remains.
I visited the family of war veteran Le Cong Binh in Hamlet 2, Trung Thanh Commune (Yen Thanh District). The story began when I saw a frail little girl lying listlessly in a corner of a bed. It was heartbreaking to see a 13-year-old girl, thin and weak, lying there completely unresponsive. Her mother said, "Other children, if they develop normally, would greet guests and smile happily when they arrive, but this one..." At this point, she choked up...
(Baonghean)I visited the family of war veteran Le Cong Binh in Hamlet 2, Trung Thanh Commune (Yen Thanh District). The story began when I saw a frail little girl lying listlessly in a corner of a bed. It was heartbreaking to see a 13-year-old girl, thin and weak, lying there completely unresponsive. Her mother said, "Other children, if they develop normally, would greet guests and smile happily when they arrive, but this one..." At this point, she choked up...
That year, Le Cong Binh enlisted in the 559th Regiment, serving in the Tri Thien battlefield in the A Sau - A Luoi region. After three years (May 1972 - May 1975), he was discharged and returned home to the joy of family reunion. In 1980, his first daughter was born, welcomed by the whole family and relatives. However, this extremely beautiful little girl, Le Thi Thuy, was exposed to Agent Orange. For 12 years, she was bedridden, and all her daily activities were taken care of by her parents. The couple took their daughter everywhere, from Western to Eastern medicine, but all hospitals gave up on her. Thuy passed away in 1992. Then, in 1999, their second daughter was born, bringing both joy and worry to everyone…
The pain continues to torment Hien every day.
Ironically, little Hien also suffers from the same illness as her older sister. The faces of the couple are filled with worry. Life, already difficult, has become even more miserable. Everything they own has been spent on their daughter's medical treatment. Little Hien lies there, her eyes half-closed and filled with tears, unable to open, completely unable to speak or express pain. The mother has to care for her daughter with cerebral palsy every day, while her husband collapses at the slightest change in weather, despite her own numerous illnesses: spinal degeneration, ureteral stones requiring surgery, but their circumstances don't allow it. The mother wants to give her daughter a proper diet, as the doctor advised, "let her eat whatever she likes because she's almost... ill," but unfortunately, with their limited means, where would they get the money? They have to subsist on porridge, relying on government assistance and occasional donations from kindhearted people, which might allow her to eat a little better.
The afternoon sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating little Hien's face and her loving mother. I wondered when that woman would finally find true happiness with a healthy child by her side.
Thuy Hang
