For many years, the cramped rented room of Ms. Dinh Thi Lien (born in 1990) and her child in Boi Khe village, Chuyen My commune (Hanoi City) has been a place filled with many worries, tears and hopes of a single mother in her journey to treat her child's illness.
Ms. Lien has two children: the eldest daughter Dinh Nguyen Le Dung (born in 2013) and the youngest son Dinh Hoang Gia Hieu (born in 2018). Life, which was already full of hardships, became even more difficult when her husband left the family. Ms. Lien is both a mother and a father, doing whatever jobs she is hired to do to earn a living.
Previously, Gia Hieu was born healthy like any other child. However, when he was almost one year old, Ms. Lien noticed that her child developed slower than his peers. The baby had fewer reflexes, slow to sit, slow to move... Sensing something unusual, Ms. Lien took her child for examination. The diagnosis result was like a strong blow to the single mother when the doctor determined that Gia Hieu had cerebral palsy.
I could only hug my child and cry. When the doctor said my child was sick, I didn't dare to believe it was true. I just hoped for a miracle so that my child could be healthy like other children," Ms. Lien sadly recalled.
Since then, the journey of treating Gia Hieu began. For nearly 7 years, the single mother took her child for treatment from the National Children's Hospital to the National Acupuncture Hospital and then participated in many rehabilitation courses. Whenever she heard of any method to help her child progress, she turned to it with faint hope.
The months of taking her child for treatment were also a difficult time for Ms. Lien. Room rent, food, travel expenses, rehabilitation and medicine costs each treatment course amounted to about 10 million VND. In some cases, when she could no longer manage, she had to borrow money from relatives to continue treating her child. Up to now, the family still owes more than 10 million VND, while life mainly depends on subsidies for poor households.
There are days when the two mothers and daughters live on charity meals and porridges at the hospital to save every penny of expenses. All the money she earns from seasonal jobs is spent on her child's treatment. I just hope my child is better, calling her "mother" makes me happy," Ms. Lien said tearfully.
Currently, although he is 8 years old, Gia Hieu only has the ability to move and perceive like a newborn baby. He eats very little, does not sleep deeply and all daily activities need his mother's support. Ms. Lien almost does not dare to leave her child for half a step because she is afraid that she will encounter misfortune.
To have time to take care of her child, she cannot do a stable job. On days when someone hires her to carry light loads, weed or help, she takes advantage of going to work for a few hours and then hurriedly returns to her child...
The situation of Ms. Lien and her children has also been concerned by the local authorities for many years. The family is classified as a poor household, although grandparents always try to help, the economy is also very tight, so they can only provide some support.
Talking to a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Dinh Van Lan, Head of Boi Khe village, Chuyen My commune (Hanoi City) said that Ms. Lien's family is one of the particularly difficult circumstances in the locality.
Ms. Lien alone both raises two children and persistently accompanies her son with cerebral palsy for many years, so life is extremely difficult. Ms. Lien's family really hopes to receive the sharing of philanthropists and readers near and far to have more conditions to continue treating Gia Hieu, helping him have more opportunities to improve his health and confidently continue on the arduous journey ahead...", Mr. Lan shared.
All help for life situation LD26173 please send to Tam Long Vang Charity Social Fund - 51 Hang Bo, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi. Account number (STK) 113000000758 at VietinBank Hoan Kiem Branch, Hanoi; Account number: 0021000303088 - at Vietcombank Hanoi Branch; Account number: 12410001122556 - at BIDV Hoan Kiem Branch.
