The foster mother has the heart of a Bodhisattva

The compassionate mother
We visited the family of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Xuan (born in 1964) in Hung Thinh 2 hamlet, Hung Tay commune, Hung Nguyen district (Nghe An) in the cold weather. The image of a woman with gray hair tenderly feeding porridge and milk to her youngest child was especially touching. Seeing the baby trying to call "Mommy!" but unable to make a sound made everyone who witnessed it unable to hold back their tears.

Mrs. Xuan and her husband had 7 children but still adopted Nguyen Bao Cung (born 2011) - their 8th child since birth. Before meeting Mrs. Xuan and her husband, the boy was abandoned by his biological mother on the street. A family with infertility heard the news and adopted him. However, after taking him to the hospital for examination, they discovered that the baby had multiple congenital malformations, cleft lip, cleft palate, obstruction of both vocal cords, severe infection and no tongue, so they gave up their original intention.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan and her two disabled children. Photo: Nhan Duc

"Cung's coming to my family was also fate. Even though we did not know each other, an invisible emotional bond kept holding onto the image of the abandoned child. In the end, my husband and I decided to adopt him as our own child," Ms. Xuan recalled.

That day, while going to the market and hearing people talking about an abandoned sick child, Mrs. Xuan immediately ran home to discuss with her husband about adopting the child. Fortunately, her husband agreed. Hearing his wife's story, Mr. Nguyen Trong Vinh (Mrs. Xuan's husband) immediately said: "Let's adopt him as our son. We'll raise him as long as we can."

The next day, the couple drove to Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital. Following the corridor of the Obstetrics Department, they came across a cradle, in which a tiny baby was gasping for breath, thirsty for milk, crying loudly and the baby only became silent when Mrs. Xuan bent down to stroke his head, caress and comfort him... From then on, the boy became the son of Xuan's mother and Vinh's father, and was named Bao Cung.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan often worries about medical expenses for her two children.

In the first few months, Bao Cung was constantly sick, and Xuan and her husband left their housework and farming to seek treatment. Because they had not yet had time to get a birth certificate, the boy was not entitled to insurance benefits when he went to the hospital, and the family had to cover all the expenses. "During that time, the family had to run around everywhere to borrow 45 million VND to pay for the hospital fees for their son," Mr. Vinh recalled.

During that time, Bao Cung had difficulty breathing many times, causing his whole body to turn purple and limp. The doctor once told the family to prepare for the worst. But then, a miracle happened, the child moved and revived. The many stormy days with their child were the same days that Mrs. Xuan and her husband lived in fear, mixed with tears of love for their child, and then happiness when the child regained consciousness.

Mrs. Xuan shared: “My husband and I are farmers, buying eels to earn a little profit. We have many children, so at the beginning of each month we have to worry about milk for the youngest child. Therefore, we have to work harder. God has given us the health to work.”

Ms. Xuan takes care of her daughter with cerebral palsy. Photo: Nhan Duc

It is worth mentioning that the seventh daughter of Mrs. Xuan and her husband suffered from encephalitis and had to be hospitalized regularly. The family's finances were not good, and many times people advised the family not to adopt Bao Cung, because "they would not be able to afford it". But seeing the child so pitiful, the couple could not bear to reject her...

Hope for the future

The difficulties were somewhat reduced when Bao Cung underwent jaw surgery at Hue Central Hospital. He began to get used to soft foods such as porridge and paste. Thanks to that, Mr. Vinh and his wife reduced the cost of buying milk. However, to raise two sick and weak children, the couple still had to work hard every day.

After 7 years of many ups and downs, the once sickly boy Bao Cung is now healthier and more alert. Now, if one had the chance to meet him, no one would be able to imagine that 7 years ago this boy was abandoned on the side of the road, his navel still uncut, his body bruised, lying there gasping for breath.

Bao Cung is now 7 years old but still has to wear a breathing tube. Photo: Nhan Duc

Mrs. Xuan said: "Seeing his peers go to school, Cung was very eager, so my husband and I created conditions for him to go to class." However, because of his illness, Cung's diet was more special than his friends', and he had to hang a breathing tube around his neck, causing some of his friends to accidentally remove it, affecting his breathing, so after 1 month of going to school, Cung had to be hospitalized. Therefore, Mr. Vinh and his wife had to accept leaving their child at home.

Hope for a healthy life for Bao Cung was rekindled when a Vietnamese doctor currently working in the US promised to find a specialist to perform a tongue transplant on Bao Cung. According to the schedule, they will contact the family on October 22 to perform the surgery. "My husband and I hope the surgery is successful, so he can speak and eat more easily," Mrs. Xuan confided.

Virtue