Join hands to help the lottery ticket seller suffering from a serious illness
It is the tragic situation of mother and son Mr. H.H.K – 58 years old, residing in Pham Van Hai, Binh Chanh, Ho Chi Minh City – currently being treated at the Gastroenterology Department of the University Medical Center Ho Chi Minh City (BV DHYD).
In the Bà Lát market area, Pham Van Hai commune, for nearly 20 years, everyone has become familiar with the image of a severely disabled man, stripped of his dignity, persistently urging people to buy lottery tickets day after day. The population is dense, but here, everyone knows the dire situation of Mr. K's family.
What seemed like a complete happiness with a full family, life not only took away Mr. K's healthy appearance, but injustice also gradually took away the lives of his wife and child. The man, bearing that disability, quietly returned to a small secluded house with his mother. The mother and son rely on each other, surviving on lottery ticket sales and the meager money from the elderly mother's rice vending.
The impoverished life with numerous illnesses surrounding Mr. K and his mother seemed already tragic enough, but the persistent, unexplained cough that haunted him day after day, month after month, accompanied by incessant vomiting, the amount of medication and medical visits kept increasing while the disease showed no sign of improvement. Their family circumstances were difficult, lacking the means for treatment, so he had to endure living with those pains. Neighbors, feeling sorry for the mother and son, each contributed a little money, totaling over 2 million VND, and advised the mother to take him for examination and treatment at Da Nang Hospital.
On 27/05/2019, he was admitted to the Emergency Department with symptoms of vomiting brown‑black fluid, abdominal cramping; after diagnosis, the doctor said, “The patient has pyloric stenosis due to a malignant gastric tumor, requiring surgery.” On 03/06/2019, the doctors at Da Nang Hospital performed surgery on Mr. K; he is currently being treated in the Gastroenterology Department to continue monitoring his condition. Associate Professor Dr. Võ Duy Long – Deputy Head of the Gastroenterology Department at Da Nang Hospital, who directly performed Mr. K’s surgery, shared: “Because the patient has a history of diffuse body edema, scar contracture, and tracheal stenosis, it was very difficult for the doctors to administer anesthesia for the surgery. The Anesthesia and Resuscitation Department had to use a video laryngoscope to monitor the patient’s respiratory status, yet the surgery was successfully completed.”
Sharing with us, Mr. K's mother, over 80 years old, reveals: “Many people ask why I let him get treatment here, how can I pay the money, I told them I've gone to many places over the years, nowhere can cure my child's illness, they only give medicine to take home, only here the doctors can correctly diagnose and treat my child, earlier I visited, he said now he feels very healthy!”. She also choked up: “Kid K is self‑conscious, thinks he's ugly so he doesn't want to prove himself, so he couldn't get a health insurance card, and now the hospital fees are too high. The whole family now only has me and him; I even borrow and sell my house, I can endure, hoping to save him, so he becomes healthy again and can keep buying lottery tickets to live with me.”
It is known that the hospital expenses for Mr. K are estimated to exceed 80 million VND by the discharge date, not including the cost of subsequent radiotherapy. The family's current situation is very poor; the family's four‑story house without a land title cannot be used as collateral, and now the elderly mother does not know where to turn for money to support her child. Understanding this situation, ĐHYD Hospital mobilized staff and officials to contribute a portion of the hospital fees for Mr. K. His treatment journey is quite long; the elderly mother continues to labor in and out caring for her child with the belief that her child will recover regardless of the sacrifice. During the days in the hospital, Mr. K's health has improved, and the spirits of the mother and child are also more steadfast, but the economic worries continue to carve deep lines of hardship onthe face of the elderly mother “Now, whatever I have, I’ll sell it all, in this world now there is only me and it left.”…
“Hope the community will join hands to support the patient, so that Mr. K can continue treatment and have better health.” – that is the message from Prof. Dr. Võ Duy Long, also the voice of all the hospital staff who have encountered Mr. K’s mother and son.
To support Mr. K, any assistance please kindly send according to the following information
Account name: Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital
Account number: 0511000787878
Bank: Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade, Sai Thanh Branch, Ho Chi Minh City
Message: Support patient Huỳnh Hữu Ký
Or contact directly Ms. Huỳnh Thị Phương Linh - Social Work Department - Phone: 028 3952 5422.