The dire circumstances of a man simultaneously diagnosed with two types of cancer.
His father died of cancer, his elderly mother is ill, his wife suffered a stroke, his daughter died in a traffic accident, and his daughter-in-law left home because of the hardships... all the burdens of the family fell on Nguyen Dinh Son's shoulders. However, recently, Son was also diagnosed with esophageal cancer.
In recent days, the people of Minh Tho hamlet, Hoa Son commune, Do Luong district (Nghe An province) have been joining hands to visit and support the family of Mr. Nguyen Dinh Son and Ms. Pham Thi Thanh, one of the most impoverished families in Hoa Son commune.
Mr. Son, 49 years old, is the breadwinner of a family where almost everyone suffers from illness. For several years, his small, impoverished home has been plagued by misfortune: his father, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Khoa, died of cancer. His mother, Mrs. Thai Thi Ky, now 80 years old, suffers from various ailments including heart disease and high blood pressure, making mobility difficult. His wife, Ms. Thanh, suffered a stroke; although she is out of critical condition, she has difficulty moving and suffers from severe aftereffects. His younger sister, Nguyen Thi Van Anh, has kidney disease and requires weekly dialysis in Vinh City.
Previously, during Tet (Lunar New Year) in 2018, Mr. Son's daughter, Nguyen Thi Anh, also died in a traffic accident while on her way from Thanh Hoa to visit her parents. Around the same time, due to the extremely difficult circumstances of her husband's family, Mr. Son's daughter-in-law left home, abandoning her 6-month-old child to her grandparents...
Misfortune kept befalling the small house, causing even a strong, resilient, and hardworking man like Mr. Son to feel like giving up at times. He worked tirelessly at various jobs, from construction labor, rice harvesting, and peeling acacia wood for hire—he did whatever anyone hired him to do—but it still wasn't enough to cover the medical expenses for his family members.
From the beginning of 2024 until now, Mr. Son has been experiencing aches and pains but didn't dare tell anyone, continuing to work as a construction laborer. In early July 2024, when the pain became severe and he could no longer bear it, he finally asked someone to take him to the hospital for examination. At the hospital, he was devastated when the doctor diagnosed him with cancer.
Mr. Son was transferred to Nghe An Oncology Hospital for further examination. There, after tests, doctors confirmed that he had esophageal cancer. He had two cancerous tumors in his esophagus: stage 1 esophageal cancer in the upper third and stage II esophageal cancer in the lower third. He was admitted to Internal Medicine Department 1 for radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
Since Mr. Son was diagnosed with a terminal illness, his small family in Minh Tho hamlet has faced even greater hardship. Despite suffering from the after-effects of a stroke, Ms. Thanh still has to go to Vinh city to care for her husband. Mr. Son's son takes over his father's work as a laborer, but due to poor health, he has irregular work schedules. His mother, despite falling ill, doesn't dare go to the hospital...
To pay for her husband's treatment, Ms. Thanh had to sell over a ton of rice and mortgage her land title to borrow 50 million VND from the People's Credit Fund of the commune. Previously, when his wife and mother were hospitalized, he had also had to borrow money from relatives at high interest rates. To date, both old and new debts have amounted to hundreds of millions of VND.
Dr. Thai Dinh Hieu from the Internal Medicine Department 1, Nghe An Oncology Hospital, said that Mr. Son's current condition is quite complex, requiring multiple rounds of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The treatment is lengthy, and the prognosis is quite poor due to the presence of two cancerous tumors in the esophagus, while the patient's overall health is not good. During chemotherapy and radiation therapy, the patient developed bone marrow failure and required multiple blood transfusions...
Mr. Nguyen Cao Dong, Deputy Secretary of the Hoa Son Commune Party Committee, said: "In recent years, Mr. Son and Ms. Thanh's family has continuously faced misfortune. Mr. Son's father, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Khoa, was a soldier who fought in the Southern battlefields. Before passing away from cancer, he was a war invalid. After Mr. Son was diagnosed with cancer, his relatives and neighbors have donated, some giving 10,000 dong, others 20,000 dong, some carrying rice and peanuts to help Mr. Son get radiotherapy. Mr. Nguyen Cao Dong shared: 'Mr. Son's situation is extremely difficult, and we hope the community and society will join hands to help his family overcome this adversity.'"
All donations should be sent to: Ms. Pham Thi Thanh - Minh Tho Hamlet, Hoa Son Commune, Do Luong District, Nghe An Province. Account Number: 3603205695076 - Agribank. Account Holder: Pham Thi Thanh.
