The dialysis patient community in Bac Ninh is reeling in a "furnace of chaos".

Amidst the scorching heat of nearly 40 degrees Celsius, dialysis patients in the neighborhood are struggling to survive in cramped rented rooms. They are battling their illnesses and the intense summer heat.

Báo Bắc Ninh•27/05/2026

At midday in May, the sun blazed down on Nguyen Van Cu Street (Bac Giang Ward, Bac Ninh Province). Stepping from the street into alley 211, it felt like entering a giant furnace.

A lodging area for dialysis patients.

It was home to a peculiar lodging area – a neighborhood for dialysis patients. The narrow alley was winding, the low, dark corrugated iron roofs gleaming in the scorching sun. The air was thick with heat, making it difficult to breathe. A healthy person would be exhausted after just a few minutes, but for kidney failure patients, whose bodies were already weakened, the heat was nothing short of torture.

The already stuffy room suddenly became thick with air. Sweat streamed down the faces of the sick people lying writhing on their beds.

At the end of the alley was an old two-story boarding house. On the second floor, about 30 square meters, the faded cement roof absorbed heat like a blazing fire. Inside the small room, the temperature was nearly 39 degrees Celsius. The heat radiated down from the roof, rose from the cement floor, and swirled around with no escape.

That was the home of Mr. Vi Van Sinh's family (from Dai Son commune, Bac Ninh province) for many years. Just as the heat reached its peak, the power suddenly went out.

Mr. Sinh sat leaning against the edge of the bed, his shirt clinging to his back. The 60-year-old man sighed, his voice hoarse: "We only have an old standing fan and two small fans, and it's still unbearably hot. When the power goes out, it's like a drying oven."

For over 10 years, he has gone to Bac Ninh General Hospital No. 1 three times a week for dialysis. For many people, the hospital is a place for treatment. But for Mr. Sinh, it has almost become his second home.

Mr. Vi Van Sinh and his two sons undergo dialysis treatment in their rented room, enduring the scorching heat.

But the father's suffering doesn't stop at his own illness. His eldest son, Vi Van Mao (39 years old), has also been undergoing dialysis for the past eight years. The thin man sits beside his old bed, carefully opening his faded treatment record book. The pages are filled with dialysis schedules, test results, and endless treatment dates.

In a small corner at the back of the rented room, Vi Van Hoan, the youngest son, has also been undergoing dialysis for 7 years.

At an age when he should be healthy, earning a living, and building a career, he is now tied to needles, IV lines, and dialysis sessions that last for hours.

Mr. Vi Van Hoan has been undergoing dialysis for 7 years.

Ten years ago, Mr. Sinh was diagnosed with kidney failure and packed his bags to move to the city, renting a room near the hospital for easier treatment. A year later, his eldest son fell ill. Two years after that, his youngest son also developed kidney failure. The three of them embarked on a journey of survival relying on dialysis machines.

His life was also shattered by illness. Two years ago, his wife left him. His eldest child, in sixth grade, had to be sent to live with relatives in his hometown, while the younger one stayed with his mother. The sweltering rented room now only houses the sick man, living quietly with his parents.

The family's sole source of income rests on Mrs. Hoang Thi Nam, Mr. Sinh's wife. This 58-year-old woman has been living in the city with her husband and children for nearly nine years. During the day, she works as a hired laborer. On lucky days, she earns 200,000 dong; on slow days, she only makes a little over 100,000 dong. She returns late at night to her stiflingly hot room.

That meager amount of money had to cover electricity, water, food, medicine, and the living expenses of four sick people. "Luckily, my father and I received assistance with hospital fees, otherwise we probably wouldn't have survived," Mr. Sinh said, looking up at the sweltering roof.

Outside, the sun still cast a white blanket across the small patch of sky. The fan, now powered on, spun weakly, barely enough to dispel the stifling heat that enveloped the room. "It's been so hot these past few days, the three of us have barely been able to sleep. We have to lie awake until almost dawn, when the weather cools down, before we can finally doze off for a little while," Mr. Sinh recounted.

Besides Mr. Sinh's family's room, many other people in that boarding house are struggling to cope with illness and the summer heat.

Dialysis patients are already exhausted due to physical weakness. The hot weather only exacerbates their fatigue. Mr. Sinh wiped the sweat from his back, his voice softening: "In this heat, everyone wants to drink water to quench their thirst. But dialysis patients don't dare drink much."

In a room of just over 10 square meters not far away, Mr. Li Van Bo (from Luc Nam commune) lay exhausted after a long dialysis session. The 62-year-old man had only moved to rent the room five months ago.

Previously, Mr. Bo would finish his dialysis treatment and then take a bus back to his hometown. But in recent months, his leg was amputated, and he can no longer walk, so he is forced to stay in rented accommodation near the hospital. The small room is only big enough for a bed and an old, rickety mini-fan.

In the sweltering room, four old beds were crammed together. That's where the whole family had lived for eight years. The rent was 1.2 million dong per month – a rare bargain around the hospital.

Beside him was his frail wife, Mrs. Tran Thi Ba. Each time her husband finished his dialysis treatment, she would quietly push his wheelchair back to their rented room. Their family worked in the fields, and their income was unstable. Their four children had all started their own families. Fortunately, thanks to their children's small contributions, the couple managed to hold on.

"Every month we still have to buy medicine from outside, costing 3-4 million dong," Mrs. Ba said. When asked about the hot days, she just shook her head. Some nights the power goes out for about an hour. Then it goes out again the next day at noon. The two of them fan themselves but still can't sleep.

In this dialysis patient's lodging area, what people fear is not only illness, but also the heatwaves. For them, the old, rickety fan is sometimes the only thing that helps their bodies survive days with temperatures nearing 40 degrees Celsius.

Beyond the narrow alley, the street surface still sweltered under the summer sun. Inside those cramped, stuffy rented rooms, dialysis patients quietly lived through each day. Their lives were confined to a few dozen square meters, revolving around regular dialysis sessions, medication bills, and long, sleepless nights due to the oppressive heat.

After the reporter left, Mr. Vi Van Sinh remained seated by the small window, gazing out at the dazzling white expanse of the summer sun. Sweat continued to stream down the 60-year-old man's face. His eyes were silently sad and distant.

According to Tien Phong

• See source link: https://tienphong.vn/xom-chay-than-quay-quat-trong-chao-lua-post1846582.tpo

Source: https://baobacninhtv.vn/xom-chay-than-o-bac-ninh-quay-quat-trong-chao-lua--postid446589.bbg