Hung Yen girl weighs 18kg after many years of not eating rice to lose weight

Don't eat rice to lose weight

From a post calling for donations, the story of weight loss and physical weakness of Bui Thi Thu Huong (born in 1998, from Duc Hop commune, Kim Dong district, Hung Yen province) attracted special attention from netizens.

According to the information on the post, Thu Huong used to be a pretty girl famous in the village, with a gentle personality, patient and hard-working. Due to improper weight loss, Thu Huong became increasingly skinny, just skin and bones. Currently, at the age of 26, Thu Huong weighs only 18kg, 1m55 tall.

The photo comparing the appearance of the Hung Yen girl before and after losing weight surprised many people. The current Thu Huong is skinny, lacking vitality, no longer the beautiful, radiant girl she once was.

Talking to reporters, Mr. Bui Van Dinh (born in 1975) shared more about his daughter's situation.

Mr. Dinh said, Thu Huong is the eldest daughter in the family, below is a younger sister born in 2011, a younger brother born in 2013.

Huong was born and grew up healthy, rarely sick. At 18 years old, she weighed 53kg, fair-skinned, and pretty.

After finishing high school, Huong took a break and then applied for a job at a garment company, going to work in the morning and coming home in the evening. At this time, Mr. Dinh heard that his daughter wanted to lose weight and that Huong's weight loss method was to limit to absolutely not eat rice, only eating very little snacks.

“Following that diet for more than a year, Huong lost 5-7kg. Seeing her visibly thinner, my family advised her to stop dieting and eat to gain strength, but she didn’t listen,” said Mr. Dinh.

Because his daughter worked from morning to night, Mr. Dinh could not control her eating. Seeing her getting thinner and thinner, he felt sorry for her but could not find any way to advise her.

In 2021, Huong weighed only about 40kg. Mr. Dinh and his wife once again asked their daughter to stop dieting and eat a full meal. Huong told her father: "Don't worry, I still know what is good and what is not good for me."

In 2022, while taking her younger sibling home from school, Huong fell off her motorbike and had to be treated at the provincial general hospital for more than a week. Since then, Huong has lost a lot of weight. Due to poor health, Huong also had to quit her job.

Seeing their daughter emaciated and in poor health, Mr. Dinh and his wife took her to major hospitals for examination. After examination and testing, Huong was finally diagnosed with no underlying disease, only severe physical weakness.

Following the doctor’s advice, Mr. Dinh’s family paid close attention to Huong’s diet, ensuring that their daughter had enough nutrients. However, for many years now, Huong has not been able to eat rice grains, so Mr. Dinh had to puree rice for her. Foods such as vegetables, meat and fish also had to be cut into small pieces.

“He can only eat about half a bowl of ground rice, along with a little bit of food. Sometimes, he eats quite a bit, but for some reason his body doesn’t absorb it, and he’s still skinny. Currently, he only weighs 18kg and is 1m55 tall,” Mr. Dinh shared.

Huong is still completely awake and alert, but her body is weak and she cannot do her own personal activities. She needs her parents to help her with everything like eating, bathing, and moving around.

Not long ago, Huong unfortunately fell while walking, suffered a traumatic brain injury, and had to be treated in the hospital for 12 days. Her condition made Mr. Dinh extremely worried.

"While there is life, there is hope. No matter how hard it is, I will try to cure my child."

Mr. Dinh currently works as a construction worker and does odd manual labor jobs, but has to take care of his nearly 90-year-old mother and sick daughter, so he cannot work regularly.

His wife works at a garment company. The entire family of six depends almost entirely on his wife's salary of 5 million VND. The medical expenses for the eldest child, the education of the second and third children, and the family's living expenses have become a burden for Mr. Dinh and his wife.

However, Mr. Dinh and his wife still tried to treat their son. He said: “While there is life, there is hope, as long as there are people, there is property. No matter how hard it is, my wife and I will try to take care of our son. We just hope that he will soon be healthy like his friends.”

Ms. Bui Thi Phuong (born in 1993, currently living in Son La) is the one who called for donations for Thu Huong's case.

Thu Huong is Phuong's cousin on her husband's side. She had heard about her sister's weight loss before, but she didn't think it was that serious. It wasn't until she accidentally saw a photo of her mother-in-law and Huong that she was shocked.

“When I visited Huong, I cried. She was so skinny, just skin and bones, her skin was pale. I felt sorry for her and her family, so I tried to help her as much as I could. Currently, Huong’s parents are still trying to treat her, just hoping she will get well soon,” Phuong shared.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh, head of Duc Hoa village, Duc Hop commune, Kim Dong district, said that Mr. Dinh's family is not poor but is still in a difficult situation. Mr. Dinh has to take care of his nearly 90-year-old mother, his sick eldest daughter, and his second and third children who are of school age.

Knowing Mr. Dinh's family's difficult circumstances, Mr. Dinh visited many times but rarely met Thu Huong. Currently, Thu Huong is living at her grandmother's house in Phu Thinh commune.

"Due to difficult family circumstances, we were able to get a gift for Mr. Dinh's mother during Tet. The gift is worth 2 million VND," said Mr. Dinh.