Pity the poor woman who alone takes care of her husband and child who had a stroke

For the past 3 years, Mr. At has relied on his elderly mother for all his personal activities. Photo: Diep Phuong

That is the tragic situation of the family of Mr. Tran Van Hoa (born in 1957) and Mrs. Nguyen Thi The (born in 1960), residing in Ba Nghe hamlet, Thanh Giang commune (Thanh Chuong).

We visited the family on a day at the end of the year, when the cold was even more piercing in the old house, next to the bed that smelled of all kinds of filth, a woman with gray hair was massaging her son. Mrs. The said that she and her husband had four sons: Tran Van Hoi (born in 1983), Tran Van At (born in 1985), Tran Van Mau (born in 1987) and Tran Van Ngo (born in 1990). Three of them were married and all lived far away.

After the stroke, Mr. Hoa also had to use crutches to learn to walk. Photo: Diep Phuong

Mr. At (the second son) got married and lived in Saigon. At the end of 2015, while working at the company, he suddenly fell to the floor. Immediately after that, his colleagues took Mr. At to the hospital. Doctors diagnosed him with a stroke.

Lying in a coma for 16 days in the emergency room of People's Hospital 115, after nearly 3 months of treatment, he was transferred to 3 major hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City using all kinds of treatment methods, brain stimulation but Mr. At's condition still did not improve. He was still paralyzed, lost all feeling in his body and could not speak. His family had to take him home to take care of him.

Since returning home, Mr. At has been lying motionless in one place, all his daily activities and meals have been taken care of by Mrs. The and Mr. Hoa. However, the misfortune did not stop there. In September 2017, while weeding corn in the field in the afternoon, Mr. Hoa suddenly fainted in the middle of the field. The villagers who worked with him discovered him and took him to the hospital. Since then, Mr. Hoa's health has gradually deteriorated.

Everything from taking care of the sick father and son to the family's financial burden weighed heavily on Mrs. The's shoulders. "During the time At was in the hospital, Van (At's wife) often came to take care of her husband. In the first few months after At returned home, she called to ask about her husband's condition, but as time went on, the calls became less frequent. She sent her grandchild to her grandparents, and she has been missing since then, not caring about her husband at all. For the past 3 years, Thuy An (At's daughter) has not seen her father even once," Mrs. The choked up.

Loving his mother and understanding his family's situation, Ngo (the youngest son) quit his job in Saigon and came back to work for a company in Vinh to help his mother take care of his father and older brother when needed. Although he is nearly 30 years old, Ngo still has not thought about getting married because his family's situation is too difficult.

The treatment cost is expensive, every 3 days he has to take 1 pill for 5.5 million VND, not to mention the cost of transportation, food, and hospital services. During the 3 months Mr. Hoa was in the hospital, together with the debtor from the past, he borrowed money to treat Mr. At, so the family fell into bankruptcy. To have money to treat the father and son, the family had to sell all valuable assets in the house: 2 buffaloes, 1 cow, motorbike, a herd of goats, ... borrowing more than 400 million VND from relatives and neighbors.

Meanwhile, the family of Mr. Hoi (the eldest son) settled in Binh Duong and their situation was also very difficult. During Tet 2010, on the way back to his hometown, Mr. Hoi unfortunately had an accident that left him with a fracture in half of his body and a traumatic brain injury. After many years of treatment, he has now recovered, but his memory and health are unstable, and his eldest son is often sick.

As for Mr. Mau's family (the third son), they currently live in Dak Lak. Both husband and wife are workers, and their economic conditions are just enough to cover their living expenses. Although they love their parents and siblings very much, they are helpless because their family circumstances are very difficult.

The family's precarious life currently depends only on one million dong in state subsidies for the disabled and the meager salary of her youngest son.

Mr. Vo Dinh Huan - head of Ba Nghe hamlet, Thanh Giang commune said: Mr. Hoa's family is in a particularly difficult situation in the hamlet. Everyone in the village sympathizes, cares, and helps the family in difficult times, but it is not enough. Hopefully, when knowing the situation, there will be many benefactors to help, so that Mr. Hoa and Mrs. The's family can ease some of the difficulties.

Please send any help to: Mr. Tran Van Hoa and Mrs. Nguyen Thi The's family, residing in Ba Nghe hamlet, Thanh Giang commune (Thanh Chuong). Phone number: 0353.146.185.