A boy's 'Letter to Santa Claus' plea for recovery from glomerulonephritis.

(Baonghean.vn) - Pain and despair caused Nguyen Danh Tai (born in 2003) to pray every day for God to cure him of his illness. Reading stories about Santa Claus's gifts to poor children suffering from serious illnesses, he gained much hope and wrote a letter begging Santa to cure him of glomerulonephritis.

For several days now, Nguyen Danh Tai has been suffering from a high fever and unable to attend school. His glomerulonephritis and nephrotic syndrome have left him exhausted; he cannot sit up, nor can he eat rice or porridge, only milk.

For over three years now, ever since he started urinating blood, accompanied by high fever, frequent seizures, and excruciating pain throughout his body, Nguyen Danh Tai has ceased to be the active, studious, and loving child he once was.

Tài's letter to Santa Claus expresses his hope for a miracle to cure his illness. Photo: Đạm Phương

The illness made me constantly irritable, and many nights the pain was so intense that I screamed and wanted to die. When I was first diagnosed, I tried to endure it. We didn't have beds, so I had to sleep on a mat on the floor. When the pain became unbearable, I crawled out into the yard so my parents could sleep peacefully, also fearing that if I died, they would be heartbroken, as I was their only child… Overwhelmed with pain and despair, I managed to get up and write a letter to Santa Claus, asking him to cure me…

These days, the sun blazes down like fire, making the family's small, low house as hot as a furnace. On the bed, Tài is shivering with fever under the woolen blanket. Seeing the visitor drenched in sweat, Ms. Nguyễn Thị Thảo (born in 1970 - Tài's mother) hesitantly pointed to a corner of the house: "There's a broken fan from last year. We've had it repaired several times, but now the repairman just returned it saying it can't be fixed anymore. It's a waste to throw it away, so we brought it back and left it there because it doesn't work anymore..."

Pointing to the old bed, about 1.4 meters wide, she prioritized Tài's sleeping space, while the rickety children's cot, only 0.80 cm wide, where the couple slept, was given to them by two kind villagers. They gave them the bed and even the old plastic mat, which had been used for years and was now tattered. On sunny days, without a fan, Tài had to take off his shirt to cool down, but the plastic mat's fibers pricked his back, causing him pain. Tài held his mother's hand and pleaded, "No matter how hard things get, Mom, please try to buy me a straw mat. This plastic mat hurts so much." Thảo bought a straw mat for her son, and the plastic mat for the two of them.

Due to illness, Tài's father only earns a few tens of thousands of dong a day by herding buffalo for hire. Photo: Đạm Phương

The spacious bed was prioritized for Tài because on days when the pain was unbearable, he would toss and turn from side to side… while the bamboo cot was too narrow; the couple had to sleep on their sides to have enough room, and many nights, due to exhaustion, they would fall to the floor as soon as they turned over. But most nights they didn't get a full night's sleep, because Tài was in constant pain, so both husband and wife had to get up to massage and comfort him…

Tài's father, Mr. Nguyen Danh Luu (born in 1969), suffers from a mental illness. Due to his weak health and erratic temperament, he only does work when he feels like it, and doesn't do it when he doesn't. However, he only gets hired to herd buffaloes, as no one dares to hire him for any other job, so the workload falls entirely on his wife.

Recounting her family's situation, Ms. Thao burst into tears again: "I don't know if my children look down on their parents because they're poor, but one by one they've left their father and mother... Out of five births, only Tai stayed with his parents, but he's sick and in pain."

Little Tài had a high fever, but still had to be covered with a woolen blanket, even though the sun was blazing hot, because he was shivering from the cold. Photo: Đạm Phương

At 14 years old, in 7th grade, Tài frequently misses school to go to the hospital for tests, treatment, or to get medication as prescribed by doctors. Tài suffers from nephrotic syndrome, frequently urinating blood and having high fevers. He has received treatment from district hospitals to central hospitals, but doctors say he will have to live with it for life. Regular treatment and medication can reduce the risk of glomerulonephritis and kidney failure. “If treatment stops, leading to kidney failure and requiring regular dialysis, then we’ll just have to wait for death to take him away. My family has nothing we can sell to pay for the money besides the debt we’ve accumulated over the past three years since my son was diagnosed,” Thảo said, her voice choked with emotion.

Tài has health insurance for the poor, but the number of hospitalizations is increasing, so he has to pay for treatment and medication himself. For almost a month now, Tài has had a high fever, constantly urinating blood, and his eyes are bloodshot, but he only takes medication to temporarily alleviate the symptoms… Thảo and her husband borrowed 35 million dong from the bank, and they have repeatedly failed to repay the debt. Out of compassion, relatives lent them money to pay off the old debt, and so the old debt piled up, leaving them completely destitute and without money to take Tài to the hospital. It's harvest season, and they need to harvest to have rice to eat. Day after day, Tài lies at home under the covers, groaning…

Tài's mother could only sit and watch her son suffer, not knowing how to save him because she had no money for hospital treatment. (Photo: Đạm Phương)

Each month, Mr. Luu receives a subsidy of 405,000 dong, Tai receives 675,000 dong, and Ms. Thao receives 270,000 dong to care for two critically ill patients. The total monthly allowance of 1,350,000 dong is barely enough to buy nutritional supplements and milk for Tai to drink daily. Electricity is installed, but rarely used because they can't afford the bill. Ms. Thao has siblings, but they are all self-sufficient. Unable to rely on her siblings, Ms. Thao can only look up at the blue sky and lament: "Why is my fate so miserable?"

Mr. Nguyen Danh Duyen, Secretary of the Party Committee of Thanh An commune (Thanh Chuong district), said: "Tai's life is in dire need of the community's support and assistance. Because his family is so poor, and his father, the breadwinner, is ill and unable to work, they have been classified as a poor household for over 20 years..."

Ha Linh