The poor family situation of the father and three sons all have brain atrophy.

(Baonghean.vn) - A sickly father pushes his two children with severe cerebral palsy in a wheelchair. When asked about them, someone said, "The three of them are learning to walk."

Every afternoon, on the road in hamlet 10, Hung Thong commune, Hung Nguyen district (Nghe An), people see the image of Mr. Le Van Cuong (born in 1978) tiredly dragging his feet, pushing his two sons with cerebral atrophy in a wheelchair.

Learning about Cuong's family background, we learned that at the age of 19, after graduating from high school, due to difficult family circumstances, Cuong went to the South to earn a living. He went to Dak Lak to work for coffee plantation owners. After 10 years of working for hire, he met Ms. Nguyen Thi Thom (born in 1987) from Hoang Hoa, Thanh Hoa. Both of them were far from home working for hire, so they fell in love and decided to start a family.

At the end of 2007, they gave birth to their first son, Le Anh Duc. Three years later, the joy doubled when the family welcomed a new member, Le Minh Tri. Two healthy, chubby boys are the happiness of the young couple.

Mr. Le Van Cuong with his two sons and their grandmother. Photo: Huong Giang

Life seemed to be going smoothly, but unexpectedly disaster struck. In 2014, Mr. Cuong's second child, Le Minh Tri, contracted hand, foot and mouth disease and had to be taken to Saigon Hospital for treatment. There, doctors diagnosed the child with a blood infection. The family spent a long time on treatment, and the cost was about 150 million.

During this time, the family noticed that Le Duc Anh was getting sicker and sicker, to the point where he could no longer walk. They took him to many hospitals for examination and treatment. Many diagnoses and conclusions were made by doctors: he had autism, he had depression. In 2015, Cuong and Thom took their two children to Hanoi for medical examination. At the National Children's Hospital, doctors concluded that both children had brain atrophy.

Not stopping there, Mr. Cuong, who was healthy, suddenly became weaker, had difficulty walking, and could not speak clearly. After going to the doctor, he was diagnosed with the same disease as his two sons.

"The doctor said this disease cannot be cured and only prescribed medication to control it. Faced with such a situation, at the end of 2014, I had to arrange to bring the whole family back to my husband's family to live with them," said Ms. Thom, Mr. Cuong's wife.

Before 2017, the daily cost of medicine for Cuong and his three children was 3 million VND. All the wealth that the couple had worked hard and saved for more than ten years was gone. Relatives and friends had helped with the medical expenses, but everyone was in difficult circumstances so they could not help forever. Ms. Thom had to take care of both food and clothing while taking care of her sick husband and children. And without money to go to the hospital, she had to close her eyes and let her husband and children switch to traditional medicine at a cost of about 6 million VND/month.

Currently, Mr. Cuong's whole family is living in the house of his parents who are nearly 80 years old.

Le Van Cuong and his three sons are exercising. Photo: Huong Giang

Once, by chance, knowing about Cuong’s family, physician Pham Van Thanh in Lao Cai city supported the construction of a charity house for his family. With the contributions and support of relatives, friends, and neighbors, the house is in the construction phase. However, due to limited funds, while the family had to save money to pay for medical treatment for Cuong and his father, the house was only built to the foundation and then stopped.

To save the lives of the father and his three children, we hope for the help of the community and philanthropists.

Please send any assistance to:

- Nghe An Newspaper Editorial Office, No. 3 Le Nin Avenue, Hung Phuc Ward, Vinh City, Nghe An Province. Phone:(023)83.588138.

- Mr. Le Van Cuong or Ms. Nguyen Thi Thom, Hamlet 10, Hung Thong Commune, Hung Nguyen District, Nghe An Province.

Phone: 01669.664.354

Huong Giang - Ho Phuong