'Sharing the pain' column: Please save the life of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Cai's family

(DN) - In a small, damp rented house in Quarter 2, Tam Phuoc Ward, Dong Nai Province, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Cai (1962) has just entered her twilight years. However, every day, she still has to struggle to find many jobs such as: cleaning for the company, wandering around the streets to collect scrap metal, selling lottery tickets... Although she has a hard life, the poor mother still has a fear: the fear of losing her husband and children in the blink of an eye and her grandchildren becoming orphans at a very young age.

Mrs. Cai married Mr. Le Minh Thanh (1966) when both were working as factory workers, with a meager salary. However, the couple always worked hard, striving to improve with the desire to raise and create conditions for their only daughter, Le Thi Kim Thoa (born in 1988), to study well and become a useful person for society.

Illness, poverty, and deadlock - all of this is reflected in the desperate eyes of four members of Mrs. Cai's family, including a seriously ill member and a young child. Photo: Thu Hien

But then, one incident after another came, like a flash flood, sweeping away all the little peace. Ms. Thoa got married early, but the short-lived marriage quickly fell apart, leaving her a single mother, raising her son Le Nguyen Truong Giang (7 years old) alone.

In desperation, in 2019, the family borrowed money from everywhere to send Thoa to work abroad, hoping to save up some capital and change their lives in the future. Unfortunately, before they could settle down in a foreign country, disaster struck. Thoa developed chronic heart and kidney failure and was no longer able to work, so the company refused to accept her and sent her back to her hometown.

Mr. Thanh and Mrs. Cai had to sell all their houses, land, and money saved for their old age to take care of their children. Regular dialysis three times a week, along with other illnesses… made Ms. Thoa’s health deteriorate day by day, she could no longer breathe on her own, and had to depend on an oxygen machine.

“Every time I leave the hospital, I just quietly hold my son in my arms, trying to hide the pain… I’m just afraid that my son will see me getting weaker and panic. I’m even more miserable and scared because I know that one day soon, I might not be able to see my parents and my little son again,” Thoa shared in tears.

Ms. Thoa struggled, her breath was weak, relying on the care of her elderly mother and young child - Photo: Thu Hien

The fear of “the one who carves the one who sees off the green one” had not stopped for a single day until in May 2025, Mr. Thanh was diagnosed with colon cancer. With no money for treatment, he could only stay at home and endure the excruciating pain every day.

All the family burdens now fall on Mrs. Cai’s thin shoulders. While struggling to make a living with unstable manual labor, she has to take care of her seriously ill husband, take her daughter to dialysis every week, and worry about food and clothing for her little grandchild who is about to enter second grade.

Every morning, she left home when it was still dark and returned when the sun had set. Her legs were tired, her hands were calloused, her back was bent under the burden of life. But what exhausted her most was not the hard work, but the constant fear that one day her husband or children would leave her, leaving her alone with her orphaned grandchild.

“I just pray to God to let my husband and children live. I can do anything to take care of them. But in reality, at this age, it is too difficult to find a job, and the health of my husband and children is like a flickering lamp in the wind. Now I am truly helpless...” - Mrs. Cai choked up.

In the scorching sun, Mrs. Cai, with her back bent and hands trembling, rummaged through the ashes to pick up every scrap of scrap metal. The whole family is surviving on the remaining strength of the woman over 60 years old. Photo: Thu Hien

In the midst of misery and hopelessness, Mrs. Cai’s family still harbors a fragile hope that somewhere, kind hearts will reach out to share. Every contribution, no matter how small, can become a miracle to keep her husband and son with Mrs. Cai and her pitiful grandchild longer. A hand extended at this time can change the fate of four people, standing on the brink of despair.

Please send all contributions to the program "Sharing the Pain", Publicity and Documentation Department, Dong Nai Newspaper and Radio and Television (DN-NRTV). Or editor Thu Hien (phone number/zalo: 0911.21.21.26).

+ Receiving account: 197073599999 - Nguyen Thi Thu Hien, Vietinbank . Please clearly state in the transfer content: support for Ms. Nguyen Thi Cai's family.

(The connection and support ceremony is expected to be held at 9:30 a.m. on August 10, 2025, at the private home of Ms. Nguyen Thi Cai's family (Ward 2, Tam Phuoc Ward, Dong Nai Province).

Thu Hien

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/xa-hoi/202508/chuyen-muc-chia-se-noi-dauxin-giu-lai-su-song-cho-gia-dinh-ba-nguyen-thi-cai-3e91255/