Quang Tri woman saved by Fidel Castro 43 years ago

Visiting the liberated area of ​​Quang Tri 43 years ago, Cuban President Fidel Castro happened to see a roadside bomb explosion accident. He got out of his car and tried to save the life of a seriously injured young woman.

Mrs. Huong was very sad to hear of President Fidel's death. Photo: Hoang Tao

In a small house in Dong Ha city (Quang Tri), Mrs. Nguyen Thi Huong was shocked and moved by the news of the death of former Cuban President Fidel Castro. The story of 43 years ago flashed through her memory like a slow-motion film.

On September 16, 1973, President Fidel visited Quang Tri - a newly liberated land still filled with the smell of smoke and fire from bombs and bullets.

At around 2:00 p.m. that same day, Ms. Huong (then 17 years old) and many local youths were filling bomb craters on the banks of the Ben Hai River when their hoe accidentally hit a bomb. The explosion sounded, Ms. Huong fell down and later learned that she had 8 pieces of intestines severed, a perforated aorta and many other soft tissue injuries.

President Fidel during his visit to Quang Tri in 1973. Photo: Ho Sy So

At the same time the explosion occurred, a delegation of Cuban leaders and officials led by President Fidel passed by and learned of the incident.

“While I was in pain from the wound but not yet completely unconscious, I saw a tall man coming towards me, parting the crowd surrounding me and looking down. Later I learned that it was President Fidel,” Ms. Huong recalled.

According to many witnesses, at that time, President Fidel quickly offered to use a car in his convoy to transport Ms. Huong and the victims to Vinh Linh Hospital. Doctors said that the Cuban delegation discussed and planned to take Ms. Huong to Hanoi by plane if the local hospital could not save her.

“I lost so much blood that I couldn’t be anesthetized for surgery. The Cuban team’s car drove to Quang Binh to bring blood to save me,” Ms. Huong said.

After a month of dedicated treatment by doctors, Mrs. Huong was discharged from the hospital but her health was still weak. At this time, she received a gift package containing many types of medicine sent by President Fidel, in the gift package was a business card with the embossed pattern with the words "CMDTE. FIDEL CASTRO RUZ". Vinh Thanh commune (Quang Tri), where Mrs. Huong lived 43 years ago, held a solemn ceremony to present the gift from the Cuban leader to Mrs. Huong.

Many years later, every time a delegation of high-ranking Cuban officials visited Vietnam and Quang Tri, they would visit Mrs. Huong's family. In 1985, a delegation of Cuban military officers visited and received an invitation from President Fidel to Mrs. Huong to come to Cuba. "At that time, I had just given birth to my youngest daughter a month ago, so I could not go. I still regret it to this day," Mrs. Huong said. In response to President Fidel's affection, Mrs. Huong sent him some of her homeland's products through Cuban officials.

Many Cuban film crews also came to Quang Tri to record the life of a Vietnamese girl whose life President Fidel tried to save.

Mr. Le Manh Ket, Mrs. Huong's husband, said the story of the past was truly a noble act. Photo: Hoang Tao

In 1976, Mrs. Huong married Mr. Le Manh Ket and had 3 children. After a period of farming in her hometown Vinh Linh, Mrs. Huong moved to Dong Ha City to live. Mr. Ket said that President Fidel's gesture at that time was "so beautiful", it helped give my wife a second life.

According to VNE