A single woman in despair amid a serious illness

Born in 1977, Ms. Thuy entered her dream marriage at the age of 22. But unexpectedly, the tragedy of her life began right from her "natural duty" of being a mother. She had a rare condition, unable to apply conventional contraceptive methods other than having to remove her ovaries. However, her husband was determined not to cooperate in family planning, so 6 children were born one after another.

Each cassava root dug from the fences, each grain of cold rice asked to dry and eat gradually… is filled with the tears of a single mother who cannot provide her children with nutritious meals. Photo: Thu Hien

It seemed that the arduous battle of giving birth had just ended and this exhausted mother could rest, but in 2013, disaster struck. Ms. Thuy discovered she had lacrimal gland cancer. After undergoing 6 chemotherapy sessions at the Oncology Hospital ( Ho Chi Minh City), the disease was under control, but she had to have regular check-ups every 3 months.

To have money for treatment, Ms. Thuy had to sell all her house, land, and assets that she had accumulated in Tien Hung 2 neighborhood, Binh Phuoc ward. After that, the family had to move to a makeshift hut (group 4, Suoi Binh hamlet, Dong Tam commune) and live off of hired gardening jobs. In 2019, the marriage officially broke up. The husband left, leaving the single mother struggling with the scythe of death, shouldering the burden of 6 young children.

The misfortune has not yet left the miserable mother alone. In 2021, Ms. Thuy had a traffic accident, breaking her femur and radius. That "fall" not only caused her physical pain, but also interrupted her job as a gardener, forcing her to borrow money from everywhere to get treatment at Hospital 175. The total debt for medical treatment and for her children's education has reached more than 120 million VND.

More pitifully, in 2022, Ms. Thuy struggled to find a "shoulder" to lean on and help take care of her children's education. But then she was abandoned once again, while she was pregnant, at the same time her illness relapsed most severely.

Despite her shaking hands and exhaustion, Ms. Thuy still tries to make fake flowers with her children to sell, earning every little penny. Photo: Thu Hien

In the misery and pain, that woman only had one belief to cling to life, which was her 7 children, who were struggling every day to keep their education and future. The two older children had gone to work (income 7 million VND/person/month), both paying for their own living expenses and supporting their younger siblings. The two children were studying at university (FPT , Foreign Language and Information Technology) and had to take out student loans to keep their dreams from being crushed. The three remaining children were taking refuge with their sister in a makeshift hut, witnessing their mother's pain every day.

“There were days when the mother and children could only go out to find cassava grown on the fences or ask for cold rice from restaurants, bring it home to wash, dry it and save it for later consumption… With no money for follow-up check-ups or prescription drugs, I could only use herbal medicine to control the pain,” Ms. Thuy choked up.

Children encourage each other to study and take care of each other in extreme poverty. Photo: Thu Hien

Every share at this time becomes a miracle, holding on to the life of the exhausted mother, the last chance for the children not to have their dreams extinguished by poverty and illness.

Please send all contributions to the program "Sharing the Pain", Publicity and Documentation Department, Dong Nai Newspaper and Radio and Television (DNNRTV). 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. Ha Thi Thuy's family.

The connection and support program is expected to be held at 9:00 a.m. on December 7, 2025, at Ms. Thuy's temporary shelter (Group 4, Suoi Binh Hamlet, Dong Tam Commune, Dong Nai Province).

Thu Hien

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/xa-hoi/202512/nguoi-phu-nu-don-than-tuyet-vong-giua-con-bao-benh-6b80a97/