'Letter to Santa' for boy with glomerulonephritis to be cured

(Baonghean.vn) - Pain and despair made the boy Nguyen Danh Tai (born in 2003) pray to God every day to cure his illness. Reading the story about the gifts Santa Claus brought to poor children with serious illnesses, he had high hopes and wrote a letter asking him to cure his glomerulonephritis.

For many days now, Nguyen Danh Tai has had a high fever and has not been able to go to school. Glomerulonephritis and nephrotic syndrome have left him exhausted, unable to sit up, unable to eat rice or porridge, only drinking milk.

For more than 3 years now, since he started urinating blood with symptoms of high fever, constant convulsions and pain all over his body, Nguyen Danh Tai is no longer the active, studious and loving child who loved his parents.

Tai's letter to Santa Claus, hoping for a miracle to cure him. Photo: Dam Phuong

The disease made me irritable, there were many nights when the pain was so bad that I screamed for death. When I first discovered the disease, I still tried to endure, there was no bed in the house so I had to lay a mat on the floor, when the pain was too much I crawled out to the yard to let my parents sleep peacefully, I was also afraid that if I died my parents would be sad, because I was the only child... Too painful and desperate, I forced myself to get up and write a letter to Santa Claus asking him to cure me...

These days, the sun is blazing hot, the family's small house is as hot as a coal furnace. On the bed, Tai is shaking with fever under the wool blanket. Looking at the sweaty guest, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thao (born in 1970 - Tai's mother) hesitantly pointed to the corner of the house: there was a broken fan from last year, it had been repaired many times, now I gave it to the repairman and he said it couldn't be repaired anymore, it was a pity to take it home and leave it there, it can't work anymore...

He pointed to the old bed about 1.4 m wide for Tai to lie on, and the rickety 0.80 cm wide cot where the couple slept was given by two villagers out of pity. They gave him the bed and an old plastic mat, which had been torn for several years. On sunny days, without a fan, Tai had to take off his shirt to cool down, but the plastic mat's edges stung his back. Tai held his mother's hand and begged: "No matter how hard it is, try to buy me a woven mat. This plastic mat is very painful to lie on, Mom." Ms. Thao bought the woven mat for her son and the plastic mat for the couple.

Tai's father only works as a buffalo herder for a few tens of thousands of dong a day due to his illness. Photo: Dam Phuong

The wide bed was given priority to Tai because on days when the pain was too unbearable, he would roll from one side to the other… and the bamboo bed was too narrow, so the couple had to sleep on their sides to have enough space, and many nights when they were too tired, they would turn over and fall to the ground. But most nights, they could not sleep well, because Tai was in constant pain, so both husband and wife had to get up to massage and encourage their child…

Tai's father - Nguyen Danh Luu (born in 1969) had a mental illness, partly due to poor health, partly due to his abnormal temperament, so he did what he liked, and what he didn't like, but he only worked as a hired cowherd, no one dared to hire him for anything else, so the work fell on his wife's shoulders.

Talking about her family's situation, Ms. Thao cried again: I don't know if my children think their parents are poor so they don't stay, why do they keep leaving their parents one by one... After 5 births, only Tai stayed with his parents, but he was sick and in pain.

Tai had a high fever, but still had to cover himself with a wool blanket, even though it was blazing hot outside, because he was cold from the inside out. Photo: Dam Phuong

14 years old, in grade 7, but Tai often skips school to go to the hospital for tests, treatment or to get medicine as prescribed by the doctor. Tai has nephrotic syndrome, often urinates blood and has a high fever. He has been treated from the district hospital to the central hospital, the doctors said he has to live with it for the rest of his life. If he is treated and takes medicine regularly, the risk of glomerulonephritis and kidney failure is reduced. "If he stops treatment leading to kidney failure and has to go on regular dialysis, he will have to give up and wait for death to take him away, because my family has nothing to sell to get money except for the debt he has been in for 3 years since he discovered his illness," Ms. Thao added, choking.

Tai has insurance for poor households, but the rate of hospitalization is getting higher and higher, so he has to pay for treatment and buy medicine himself. For nearly a month now, Tai has had a high fever, constantly urinating blood, his eyes are bloodshot, but he only takes medicine to control it... Thao and her husband borrowed 35 million VND from the bank, but time and time again they could not pay the debt. Out of pity, their relatives lent him another loan to pay off the old debt, so the old debt piled up on the new debt, until now they are exhausted and have no money to take Tai to the hospital. It is harvest time so they have to harvest to have rice to eat. Procrastinating day after day, Tai just lays at home under the blanket and groans...

Tai's mother could only sit and watch her son suffer, not knowing how to save him because she had no money to go to the hospital. Photo: Dam Phuong

Every month, Mr. Luu receives a subsidy of 405 thousand VND, Tai receives 675 thousand VND, and Ms. Thao receives 270 thousand VND to take care of two people with extremely serious illnesses. The amount of 1,350 thousand VND per month is only enough to buy supplements and milk for Tai to drink every day. Electricity is installed, but it is rarely used because there is no money to pay for electricity. Born from the same parents, Ms. Thao also has brothers and sisters. But "each brother fills his own pot". Unable to look at his brothers and sisters, Ms. Thao just looks up to the blue sky and complains: Why is my life so miserable?

Mr. Nguyen Danh Duyen - Secretary of the Thanh An Commune Party Committee (Thanh Chuong) said: Tai's life is in dire need of the community's support. Because his family is in such difficult circumstances, the father is sick and cannot work to earn money, so he has been 'a poor household for more than 20 years now...'.

Ha Linh