Heartbreaking story of a second-grade boy caring for his bedridden father.

(Baonghean) - Listening to her recount stories of her disabled father amidst her sobs, and her dream of becoming a doctor, we couldn't hold back our tears. Though only in the second grade, due to her family's difficult circumstances, she has become mature and experienced beyond her seven years.

In early March, we visited the home of Mr. Nguyen Manh Tan and Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy in Hamlet 4, Hung Phuc Commune (Hung Nguyen District). It was already 11 a.m., but only Mr. Tan was lying in bed. There was nothing of value in the house. Hearing someone calling, he could only lie there and speak back.

Five years ago, Mr. Tan was in an accident and became quadriplegic, completely dependent on his wife and two young children for all his personal needs. While we were talking, a child's voice suddenly called from the gate: "Dad, I got another 10 in Math today!" Mr. Tan lay in bed, smiling proudly: "That's my youngest son, he's so well-behaved and smart!"

Hoang gives his father water to drink while his mother is away. Photo: TT

A small, dark-skinned boy with big, round eyes entered the house and smiled shyly at the sight of strangers. After greeting us, he quickly went inside to get some water, inserted a straw, and brought it to his father to drink.

He did everything carefully and quickly, as if it were something he had always done. Once everything was ready, he went into the kitchen, rummaged around to get the rice cooker, washed the rice, and plugged it in to cook while waiting for his mother to come home. That's Nguyen Trong Hoang.

This year, Hoang is in the second grade at Hung Phuc Primary School. Hoang sat down on a plastic chair next to the bed, massaging his father while softly telling us about his family's situation.

“It’s been five years since my dad was hit by a motorbike, and he’s been bedridden, unable to move or do anything. Every day, my mom wakes up early in the morning to take care of him, from feeding him, helping him with hygiene, changing his clothes… He’s paralyzed from head to toe, and his body is covered in sores. Besides taking care of him, my mom also sells goods on the street and works in the fields to earn money for my siblings and me to eat and go to school, as well as for my dad’s medicine.”

Since my father's accident, he's been unable to move his limbs and has to rely on a plastic straw to eat and drink. He only eats a little rice or porridge if my mother or my sister Truc feeds him. I can only help him drink water when my mother and sister are away.

Looking back, the days when my father was still healthy, working as a construction laborer every day to earn money to support the whole family, were so joyful. Even though my parents worked hard to raise and educate my siblings and me, our family was always filled with laughter and happiness.

"We're happy because every night the whole family sits down together for dinner, gathering around. Dad serves food to Mom and the two sisters. After dinner, my sister sits down to study, while I watch TV with my parents or listen to them discuss farming and gardening matters..."

But that joy suddenly vanished after my father's accident. He had to be hospitalized and treated for years, from the provincial hospital to Hanoi for many days, but he still couldn't recover completely. My mother sold everything of value in the house to buy medicine and pay for his hospital bills, but it still wasn't enough. My father had to go to the hospital once a month, each time staying for more than a week before returning home, and my mother also had to stay with him for a week.

At home, I can only help my mother take care of the chickens and do odd jobs, while my sister Truc takes advantage of her school break to help my mother sell goods. Occasionally, the two of us go together to catch crabs and snails in the fields to sell and earn extra money for my mother to buy meat, or to save in our piggy bank for clothes and books for the next school year.

I remember those times when the whole family ate only vegetables for days on end. The adults said Dad had severe anemia, and we had to rush him to the hospital. There was nothing left in the house to sell, and whenever Dad was hospitalized, Mom had to run around the neighborhood borrowing money to pay for his treatment. I felt so sorry for Mom; she really wanted to buy some fish or meat for Dad, but the money she saved from selling things was only enough to buy medicine.

Once, I overheard my mother talking to Truc: "I don't have money to buy good food for Dad and the two of you. I'll make it up to you two when Dad gets better!" Whenever I heard my mother say that, I wanted to cry...

Hoang is a good son, a good student, and very filial. Photo: TT

During school days, seeing my friends being dropped off and picked up by their fathers made me feel so sorry for my dad. He couldn't take me and my sister Truc to school; he had to lie alone at home, unable to even get a drink of water or peel an orange.

I don't know how to get my dad's teeth back. I wish his legs were healthy again, his hands could move, and he could play with me and, most importantly, sit and eat meals with the whole family. But many adults who visit him shake their heads, and I know it's unlikely he'll ever be the same again. I really want to be a doctor. I will try my best to study hard so that I can become a doctor someday, to heal my dad's legs and those of others who are as unfortunate as him.

Summer is approaching, and Tan's father often has difficulty breathing. On days when the temperature rises, his face turns purple and he can't speak. If he's at home, his mother will be by his side, immediately helping him sit up and rubbing his chest to ease his pain. Last summer, his mother had to take many days off from selling goods outside the school gate to stay home and take care of him. I'm so afraid my father will die. I want him to wait until I finish my medical studies so I can cure him. I love my mother very much too, but I don't know what to do...

Thien Thien - Tran Thuy