The twins' pain

(Baonghean)Sent home from the hospital, twin sisters Nguyen Thi Hien and Nguyen Thi Hoa (born in 1992) from Hamlet 2, Hoa Son Commune, Anh Son District, are struggling daily with the pain of their illnesses. At 22 years old, Nguyen Thi Hien weighs only 20 kg and Nguyen Thi Hoa only 15 kg. Hoa's right leg has become gangrenous and half of it has been amputated, while Hien's flesh is gradually wasting away, leaving her nothing but skin and bones.

Twin sisters Nguyen Thi Hien and Nguyen Thi Hoa with their mother.

With a choked voice and anguish, Ms. Bui Thi Hung (born in 1969), the mother of the two children, recounted: "When they were born, they were both normal like other children. At one year old, noticing their stomachs were hard as stone, my husband and I took them to the Provincial General Hospital for examination. They were referred to the National Children's Hospital (Hanoi) with a diagnosis of splenolysis (enlarged spleen) requiring surgery. However, because the two children were so young and severely anemic, they needed blood transfusions before the surgery could be performed. After five trips to Hanoi for blood transfusions, at the age of six, the two children underwent splenectomy at Viet Duc Hospital (Hien had her entire spleen removed in the hope that it would return, but without success)."

They thought their two children's condition had stabilized because after surgery, they went to school normally until the 9th grade like other children. However, every time they fell, even slightly, both children suffered fractures or cracks in their bones and had to have casts applied. The family owns three acres of leased rice paddies, and even with two harvests a year, they only have enough rice to eat, plus they have to worry about caring for and treating their children, leading them into debt.

In 2013, Ms. Hung's husband, the main breadwinner of the family, was involved in an accident. After two days of treatment at the hospital, he passed away, leaving Ms. Hung with the burden of raising four young children, including Hien and Hoa, who suffer from serious illnesses.

After their father passed away, both Hien and Hoa lost their ability to walk. Their legs gradually atrophied, leaving only skin and bones. Despite the excruciating pain, out of love for their struggling mother and fear of causing her worry, the two sisters dared not complain, only gritting their teeth and enduring the suffering. In October 2013, Ms. Hung borrowed some money from relatives to take the two children to Hanoi in the hope of treatment. However, the professors and doctors shook their heads, giving up on diagnosing them: the two children had osteogenesis imperfecta, hemolytic anemia, and spinal cord leakage. They encouraged the family to bring the children home to care for them, giving them painkillers daily to alleviate their pain.

Out of love for his mother and sisters, Toan, the only son in the family, had to drop out of school to take care of them, help his mother with farm work, and let his youngest sister, Nga, go to school. Relatives and neighbors joined hands to help the family; from 2010 to the present, Hien and Hoa have each received a monthly allowance of 180,000 VND.

Now, all Ms. Hung can do for her children each day is ask if they want anything to eat, and every now and then she leaves her fields and gardens to rush back and check if they are in more pain than the day before, or if they can get any sleep. Every two days, she acts as a "nurse," removing bandages, cleaning away blood, pus, and necrotic tissue from Hoa's wounds. She said painfully, "Every time I change my child's bandages, it feels like my heart is breaking into pieces. Hoa is in so much pain, but she just grits her teeth until blood comes out so she doesn't cry out. She's afraid of upsetting her mother."

Ms. Hung's family is in desperate need of the generosity of readers near and far to help them pay off their debts and to encourage and support them through this agonizing time...

Dam Phuong