The difficult situation of a 2-month-old baby with congenital heart disease and cleft lip and palate

Under the dry sunshine of early April, we visited the family of Nguyen Dinh Van (living in Bau Sen hamlet, Thanh Giang commune, Thanh Chuong) in a dilapidated house. The image of his nephew struggling in his mother's arms, milk splashing all over his face and then onto his clothes, with a purple face as if he was about to faint, made anyone who saw it feel sorry.

Nearly 2 months old, but the baby's body weight has only increased by 0.5 kg compared to when he was born. Photo: Diep Phuong

Hastily wiping her child’s face, the mother with pale, dark skin was coaxing her poor child until the baby fell asleep, only then did she realize that there were guests in the house. Wiping away the tears that were about to flow down her cheeks with her eyes dark from many sleepless nights, Ms. Hoan tearfully confided: “Because my child’s lip is cleft, his left nostril is almost blocked, making it impossible for him to breathe, and his mouth cannot close, so it is very difficult for him to drink milk. I have to express milk into a bottle to drink, but he still chokes on the milk frequently.”

Sharing with us, Ms. Hoan said that they fell in love at the age of "old boys get married, old girls get married", in 2007, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Van (born in 1974) and Ms. Phan Thi Hoan (born in 1985) decided to live under the same roof, to build a home together. They thought life would be simple in a cramped, old house but full of laughter, love and happiness with their children Nguyen Dinh Tu (born in 2012), Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tung (born in 2014) and the third child growing day by day in Ms. Hoan's womb. But the happiness was short-lived until the day Nguyen Dinh Bach was born, when the whole family was excited and looking forward to the birth of their youngest son, but the family was shocked to hear the bad news that Bach had congenital heart disease and cleft lip and palate right after birth.

Although he is almost 2 months old, his weight has only increased by 0.5 kg compared to when he was born (he weighed 3.5 kg at birth and now weighs 4 kg) and has had to go to the hospital many times for examination and treatment of his heart disease. The doctor diagnosed that his condition was very serious and required surgery soon, but due to the difficult family circumstances and Bach's weak health, the surgery could not be performed yet. According to the treatment regimen, for Bach to have heart surgery and cleft lip and palate surgery, it is impossible to calculate the time in months or years...

Summary of Bach's medical record. Photo: Diep Phuong

Meanwhile, the family’s economy only depends on 5 sao of rice fields, a few meters of crop land and Mr. Van’s unstable construction worker salary. Since the baby was born, the family has had to “tighten their belts” to save money, sell 2 growing goats to pay for the baby’s daily medicine. The entire family’s assets now consist of only one buffalo for agricultural production, an old motorbike and a flock of chickens… which are also at risk of having to be sold.

Unable to breathe through his nose, the baby had to try his best to breathe through his mouth. Photo: Diep Phuong

Falling into a deep sleep in his mother's arms, little Bach was trying his best to gasp for breath through his mouth, his labored breathing was rapid because of the pain, every now and then he would cry out in pain, causing the witnesses to choke up and unable to hold back their tears.

Mr. Phan Van Chin - Head of Bau Sen hamlet, Thanh Giang commune said: Mr. Van and Ms. Hoan's family is in a particularly difficult situation in the hamlet and is currently in a deadlock because they do not have money to treat their child's heart disease and cleft lip and palate. Therefore, in addition to the support of the locality and neighbors, we hope to receive support from benefactors near and far to help the child have a brighter future.

Please send any help to the child's parents at the address:

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Van, Ms. Phan Thi Hoan, Bau Sen hamlet, Thanh Giang commune, Thanh Chuong district (Nghe An). Phone number: 0168.9232.467