Young girl with strange disease 'blossoms', asks to donate organs to save lives

(Baonghean.vn) - Suffering from a "strange" disease with her skin and flesh swelling up in masses like cauliflower, a 25-year-old girl from Tan Ky made a decision that many people admired: asking to donate her organs to save people..

Cruel fate

In the scorching June sun of the western region of Nghe An, we went up the mountain slope to find the house of a young girl named Nguyen Thi Thanh (born in 1992), residing in Nam Dan hamlet, Tan An commune, Tan Ky district, Nghe An province.

In the corner of the yard shaded by a few mango trees, a makeshift folding bed and a tiny fan could not withstand the scorching heat of the Lao wind that continuously blew on one’s face. Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thu - Thanh’s mother - slowly washed the towel and gently wiped her child’s face.

Thanh's condition is getting worse day by day, the boil is eating away at her foot, making it impossible for her to move. The left side of Thanh's body is covered with scars that cannot heal. Photo: Nhu Suong

Thanh is the youngest of four sisters. Thanh's father and mother are both farmers, so life is quite difficult, but the family is always warm and happy. Of the four sisters, only Thanh is sick.

At the beginning of the disease, strange red spots appeared on the tips of Thanh's fingers. However, because Thanh was still healthy and walking normally, his parents did not take him to the doctor, thinking that he would recover on his own.

Only later, when the family saw that their child was getting weaker and weaker, and had warts on his skin, did they think of taking him to the doctor. Unfortunately, at this time, Thanh's father suddenly passed away, leaving Mrs. Thu with the burden of taking care of the four children.

After the funeral, taking care of her four children seemed to be too much for Mrs. Thu. She relied on her for everything, big and small, so the idea of ​​taking Thanh to the doctor had more reason to be put on hold. Moreover, Thanh's illness was not yet serious; he could still go to class every day, so Mrs. Thu became more complacent.

Behind Thanh's gaunt face lies so much sadness. Photo: Nhu Suong

It was not until later, when Thanh entered 11th grade, when economic conditions were less difficult and her sisters could go to work to help their mother take care of her younger siblings, that her family took her to see a doctor. However, by this time, Thanh's illness had become severe and complications were beginning to develop that were very difficult to treat.

“After being examined at Tan Ky district hospital, Thanh was transferred to the provincial hospital, then continued to K hospital (Hanoi). Here, the doctors said that he had papilloma spreading to his lower leg, leading to a lump on his leg, the scientific name of the disease is Human Papilloma Virus - HPV. But because the disease had complications and had penetrated deep into the blood, the longer it was left, the more the disease spread and now it has eaten into his feet, swollen like cauliflower. Now he can no longer walk. All day long, he can only sit and lie down, and even with personal hygiene, he has to ask his mother for help.

“On hot days, the pain is less, but when the weather changes or on cold days, the swollen area hurts terribly. And I almost have to stay up all night because the pain is so unbearable that I can’t sleep,” Mrs. Thu choked.

Desire to donate organs to save lives

At Thanh’s age, if it were normal, she would have graduated from university, had a stable job and might even be filled with happiness with a guy who truly loved her. But now, even the desire to travel and help her mother with housework, Thanh cannot and almost all personal activities have to rely on her mother.

“I don’t know how many times I thought about dying so that I wouldn’t make everyone worry and work hard because the family’s economy was already difficult, and now I was sick, and my mother didn’t have time to take care of the fields. But thinking about the image of my old mother working hard, running around looking for a cure for me appeared in my head, making me stop and forget that thought. Because no matter what, my mother still loves me, still dares to sacrifice everything for her children, if I die now then…”, Thanh lost her voice.

The pain of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thu when talking about her poor daughter's illness. Photo: Nhu Suong

After many sleepless nights thinking and knowing that this disease could not be cured, Thanh wanted to do something so that when she died, she would still be a useful person. Therefore, after many times searching for information online, she decided to donate a part of her body to medicine so that someone would be lucky enough to continue the dream that Thanh had left unfinished - that is, the dream of becoming a doctor.

“This is something I have thought about a lot, not a rash decision. Also because of the days in the hospital, I met and talked with patients in difficult circumstances who need organ donors to continue their lives. Meanwhile, the source of organs donated to medicine for surgery is very limited, and according to tests, many parts of my body such as liver, kidney... are still healthy, so I decided to donate a part of my body so that someone can continue to live.

Now, I have also researched the information, the procedure for donating body and organs is not too complicated, just need to fill out the body donation voluntary form", Thanh shared.

Although she had such a wish, Thanh still had concerns, because organ donation required the consent of family or relatives to ensure that the donation process did not encounter any obstacles, and up to this point, Thanh's mother still did not know about her intention. Thanh wanted to gradually talk and explain to her mother, until her mother completely accepted, then she would go through the procedures to donate.

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