The old lady selling books once went viral online: Now she is paralyzed on one side, with no money for medical treatment.

Bedridden, no money for treatment

In a less than 20 square meter rented room in alley 42 Ho Dac Di (Tay Thanh ward, Tan Phu district, Ho Chi Minh City), Mrs. Nguyen Thi Bong (71 years old) lies paralyzed on a small bed. Compared to 1 year ago, Mrs. Bong is now emaciated, no longer clear-headed and no longer strong enough to say a word.

Mrs. Bong in a cramped rented room (Photo: Nguyen Vy).

At noon, Mr. Pham Van Ngoc (33 years old), Mrs. Bong's great-grandson, pureed the porridge and slowly fed it to her with a straw. Mr. Ngoc said that for over a year, Mrs. Bong had not been able to sell books because she had become seriously ill after many days in the rain. The sudden relapse of her stroke left her unable to walk normally.

After being examined at the hospital, he was shocked to discover that Mrs. Bong also had a tumor in her brain, compressing her nerves, causing her to be paralyzed on one side.

To treat her, the family had to prepare a large sum of money. Ngoc and his wife only did small business at the market, and the money they earned was only enough to live on, so they had to take Mrs. Bong to a rented room to take care of her. Ngoc's wife also quit her job to take care of her.

Mrs. Bong had difficulty eating, so Mr. Ngoc had to puree the porridge and feed it to her (Photo: Provided by the character).

"My mother is Mrs. Bong's niece. When I was young, because my family was poor, there was a period of time when she took care of me like her own child. So now that she is sick, her parents and siblings have all passed away, so my wife and I take turns taking care of her," said Mr. Ngoc.

Not having much money, Mr. Ngoc could only buy painkillers for Mrs. Bong to take. As a result, Mrs. Bong's condition became worse and worse. Up to now, she still cannot talk normally, and her consciousness is no longer as clear as before.

Unhappy life

Mrs. Bong was born and raised in Ho Chi Minh City, in a family of 9 siblings. Mrs. Bong's family is also quite well-off with 3 houses for both living and renting. Ever since she was little, Mrs. Bong has been passionate about reading, whenever she had money she would buy books. From there, she came up with the idea of ​​selling books, using customers' orders as capital.

Back then, without having to invest much capital, Mrs. Bong was able to develop her business and be "closer" to books. Decades ago, she could sell several million dong a day, and books were ordered by customers abroad. But gradually, people rarely spent much money on books anymore, so Mrs. Bong had to use her own money to buy used books to sell.

The image of Mrs. Bong sitting and selling books on the sidewalk moved many people (Photo: Nguyen Vy).

When the business was "slow", Mrs. Bong's parents passed away. The 3 houses were divided equally among the siblings, and Mrs. Bong also received a part of it. However, after a few incidents, Mrs. Bong suddenly became... homeless and had to rent a house.

There was a time when Mrs. Bong had no place to live and had to sleep on the streets. Gradually, all her siblings passed away, and Mrs. Bong had no relatives left.

Mrs. Bong also has no intention of starting a family, getting married, or having children, because she loves freedom, loves to read books every day without worrying about anything. Thanks to reading books, she finds herself going everywhere, traveling right in the pages of books.

The piles of old books were bought by Mrs. Bong from used bookstores and brought here for her. Every day, at 3 p.m., Mrs. Bong is on Cach Mang Thang Tam Street (Ward 10, District 3, HCMC) to sell books and returns late at night. Many times, when sales are slow, she is engrossed in reading until 1 a.m. before realizing it is too late.

Despite her tragic life, Mrs. Bong still tries to live optimistically (Photo: Nguyen Vy).

Before, Mrs. Bong rode an old motorbike alone, carrying her stack of books from home to the selling point. But since her stroke, she has had to travel by motorbike taxi. She used the money she earned from selling books to pay for her rent and daily meals. On days when she made a little money, she asked for charity food and happily enjoyed it.

Occasionally, when someone comes to buy books for charity, Mrs. Bong both sells and gives them away, because she believes that "if I eat them, they'll run out, but if others eat them, there's still some left."

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/an-sinh/cu-ba-ban-sach-tung-sot-mang-nay-liet-nua-nguoi-khong-tien-chua-benh-20240512161129741.htm