Seriously ill mother shed tears seeing her child in a wheelchair longing to go to school

Single mother 3 times on the operating table

Living in a rented room of about ten square meters in block 4, Muong Xen town, the farthest border district of Ky Son district, Le Thi Duong and her children have never had a happy, leisurely day.

On the morning of October 12, after returning from bladder surgery at the Provincial General Hospital for 5 days, Ms. Duong still could not walk normally. She said that she had undergone 2 surgeries before due to injuries from a fall while riding a boat. Back then, when she was young, she lived in Bac Son commune, Do Luong district, and had to take a boat across the river from home to school. Once, due to a slip and fall, her back hit the side of the boat, causing a spinal injury, but due to her family's difficult circumstances, she could not receive timely treatment.

It was not until nearly 10 years later, when the back pain became more and more severe, that she went to the hospital for a check-up, and the doctor concluded that she had a spinal injury, affecting the disc and requiring urgent surgery. Then, just a few years later, her spine got worse again, and the disc swelled, requiring a second surgery.

Ms. Duong underwent three surgeries and her health seriously declined. Photo: Contributor

After that surgery, her health was seriously affected, she could not do heavy work, she could only do small business. Mrs. Duong's family had 5 siblings, but 1 had passed away, the remaining siblings were all poor and struggling. Her youth was filled with long days of illness. She had to stay single and travel everywhere to make a living and finally settled in the remote district of Ky Son. At the age of 39, she decided to have a child to rely on in her old age. She gave birth to her son Tran Anh Duc in joy and dreamed of a warm home where mother and son could rely on each other. The mother and son rented a small room in Muong Xen town, opened a small grocery store to make a living.

Hemiplegic boy longs to go to school

The joy was short-lived. In 2011, when Anh Duc, Mrs. Duong's son, was 5 years old, disaster struck again. While playing on the side of the road, Duc was hit by a car, causing him to fly into a ditch next to the road and become unconscious. The driver who caused the accident fled the scene.

Mrs. Duong took her son Anh Duc to many places for treatment but he was still paralyzed on one side. Photo courtesy of Dao Tho

“After the accident, I took my son to seek treatment everywhere, sold all the valuable things I had saved, but he still did not recover. His spinal cord was severed near his chest, and he was paralyzed from the chest down, without feeling. His mother has been taking care of him all his personal hygiene activities since then. This year Duc is in 10th grade,” Mrs. Duong shared sadly.

Because he was in a wheelchair for many years, one side of his hip became necrotic. He had to regularly apply medicine and change bandages 2-3 times a day.

Furthermore, on September 27, 2021, after a spinal examination, the hospital informed her that she had a tumor in her bladder and ordered urgent surgery. Since then, nearly 2 weeks after the third surgery in her life, due to her poor health and having just undergone surgery, Ms. Duong still cannot walk. All activities of both mother and daughter must be supported by her younger sister from Do Luong.

“Now I am also sitting in one place, not knowing who will take care of my children in the future. My younger sister can only help us for a while, she cannot stay forever. Seeing her mother sick and lying in one place, she is afraid that she will not be able to go to school anymore, so she keeps crying and begging her mother to let her continue to go to school,” Ms. Duong said, choking up. She is afraid that if she cannot walk, she will not be able to sell goods to earn money to raise her children.

Since primary school, despite being paralyzed on one side, Anh Duc has always had a thirst for learning and every year has achieved the status of an advanced student or better. Photo courtesy of Dao Tho

Talking about her little son, Mrs. Duong sobbed in tears: My son has been without a father since he was a child, and he had to use a wheelchair before he was a few years old. Many times I wanted to take him back to the countryside to depend on relatives, but then all the sisters were poor, and my mother was 86 years old, and I was afraid of becoming a burden to them. Not only was my health poor, but my son also needed someone to take care of all his personal activities, from eating to hygiene. In Muong Xen, she rented a house near the school gate to make it convenient for her son to go to school. He only had to walk across the street not far and he would be at school.

Throughout his primary school years, then secondary school years, and now entering grade 10 at Muong Xen Town High School, student Anh Duc has always received attention and help from his friends, teachers, and school. Most of the work of taking Anh Duc to school and pushing the wheelchair was done by Duc's friends. Later, a sponsor gave Duc an electric wheelchair so that Duc could go to school by himself. The mother and son also received attention and help from neighbors. After Mrs. Duong had her third surgery, philanthropists, mainly people in Muong Xen Town, called for donations from each person to help Mrs. Duong and her son.

According to Mr. Lo Khanh Khang - a member of the Ky Son Charity Club, by the afternoon of October 12, benefactors and kind-hearted people had contributed 30 million VND to help Ms. Duong and her children.

In 2021, Ms. Duong's son is in 10th grade. All personal activities are taken care of by his mother. Photo: Contributor

"My son and I mainly live on my child's disability allowance, which is nearly 1 million VND per month. In addition, I sell groceries every day, which is just enough to eat, pay the rent of 2.7 million VND/month, and sometimes have to borrow money for medicine. Last year, my son passed the entrance exam as valedictorian of the town's high school, and received a lot of attention from teachers, teachers, and friends. And he always longs to study. But I don't know if I can still take care of him when I'm stuck in one place" - then Mrs. Duong started to cry again./.