The tragedy of a young girl with a rare disease in Nam Sach

When I visited Anh in her uncle’s small house in Thuong Dap village, Nam Hong commune (Nam Sach), I saw her lying on a folding bed in a closed room. Because of parotid gland cancer, her neck and head were deformed and abnormally large. In contrast to her head, her body was emaciated and thin due to illness.

Looking at Anh’s flawless white skin and rosy lips, I guessed that she used to be very beautiful. Just last year, Anh went to Taiwan to work to earn money to support her family and raise her children. This year, she is bedridden and suffering from pain and illness.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh was born in 1992, has had 2 husbands and 3 children. She was born into a family with difficult circumstances. When her parents divorced, Ms. Anh lived with her father, but then her father passed away. She lived with her mother for a while, then her mother remarried, so she moved in with her uncle. Due to difficulties, Ms. Anh only finished junior high school, then dropped out of school and traveled to Russia and Taiwan to work.

Married to her first husband when she was only 17 years old, Ms. Anh has a daughter who is now in 8th grade. The marriage was not happy, Ms. Anh divorced and remarried, having 2 more children who are now 4-5 years old.

Mr. Nguyen Van Loi, the uncle and the person who is taking care of Ms. Anh, has repeatedly said with sadness that his niece has had a very difficult life.

Tragedy struck at the end of 2023 when Ms. Anh had just been working in Taiwan for a few months when she felt a sore throat. Ms. Anh went to the doctor and thought it was common tonsillitis. She took medicine for a few days and felt better, but then it came back. When she had to have surgery, Ms. Anh still thought she could recover and continue to stay in Taiwan to work to earn money. But then, she had to return home for treatment. Since returning home, Ms. Anh has been going to the hospital continuously and has undergone another surgery at the Hanoi Oncology Hospital. Her body is now weak and she no longer has the strength to receive chemotherapy.

The cost of treatment has so far cost about 400 million VND while Ms. Anh's family has no income. Since Ms. Anh fell ill, her mother has come to take care of her during the day, and her eldest daughter has returned to her mother after school. The two younger children live with their father and occasionally visit their mother. Ms. Anh's husband is not living with her at the moment, he is a manual laborer with an unstable job so he cannot support her in any way. Loving his grandchild, Mr. Loi, a cook and roast duck seller, can only do his best to take care of her.

Ms. Trinh Thi Ngoc, Vice President of the Women's Union of Nam Sach district, said that Ms. Anh's case is a very difficult one and needs the support and encouragement of society, both materially and spiritually.

Any help please send directly to Mr. Nguyen Van Loi's house, where Ms. Anh is living in Thuong Dap village, Nam Hong commune (Nam Sach) or to account number 104869138684, account holder Nguyen Van Loi, Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade Vietinbank.