On June 17, VTC News reporters went to the house of Mr. Do Van Luyen (born 1957, in Co Dang village, Dong Tien commune, Quynh Phu district, Thai Binh province), a man with a deformed face for nearly 60 years.
In the 3-room tile-roofed house located at the end of the village, Mr. Luyen slowly told about his circumstances and unfortunate fate. Since he was born, his body has carried the seeds of disease with ulcers and rough blood blisters that disfigure his face, making anyone who sees him for the first time startled and scared.
Mr. Luyen has had a deformed face since he was born. (Photo: Minh Khang)
The disease also caused bruises on half of his body. A face with warts and warts that are rough and purple like plums gradually form without anyone knowing what the disease is. Due to his poor family background, his parents worked every day as hired laborers and hired laborers, not having enough food to eat, so they did not have money to take their children for medical treatment, so they just let the illness spread and get worse.
Over the years, Mr. Luyen grew up with a deformed body and weak health. Not being able to study like other children his age, nor being able to work like normal people, he had to wander around begging for food to make ends meet.
Disaster followed disaster. At the age of 15, Mr. Luyen was assaulted by a villager, causing him to permanently lose his right eye.
When he was 15 years old, Mr. Luyen was assaulted by a neighbor, leaving him blind in one eye.
At the age of 30, while begging in a neighboring commune, Mr. Luyen accidentally met Mrs. Nguyen Thi Chi (born 1952), a child-rearing aunt who was disabled in both legs. Sympathizing with Mr. Luyen’s fate and family situation, Ms. Chi ignored the family’s criticism, criticism and objections to come to him and get married.
Since then, every day, Mr. Luyen went everywhere asking for handfuls of rice, handfuls of rice or small coins to bring home to support his disabled wife. They live together in poverty and need, but still love and support each other in times of adversity and illness.
Then God mercy, 2 children (1 boy, 1 girl) were born. Every day, his disabled wife stays at home, while Mr. Luyen works as a beggar in all provinces and cities in the country to support his wife and children. After finishing 9th grade, their two children had to drop out of school because their family was extremely poor.
The son followed his friends to Hanoi, everyone worked to support himself and collected every penny of money to send home to help his parents. Then gradually the son was able to support himself and learn the profession of refrigeration repair, and after a few years he got married and had children. The girl, after a few years out of school, went to build a family with a boyfriend from the same village.
Because the tumor gradually grew and pressed into his nostril, Mr. Luyen had to use a plastic tube to insert into his nose to make it easier to breathe.
Over the past few years, Mr. Luyen has become increasingly old and weak, but because he did not want his children to worry, he still tried to beg for food. The children did not want their father to work hard, but he said: “Only parents can take care of their children, but how can children take care of their parents?”
His two children are married, but their circumstances are difficult, so they only occasionally save a little to give to their parents. Although it was sad to see his disabled parents living in poverty, his children could not do anything more.
“In the village, everyone knows it, so it’s okay, but when I go somewhere else, seeing my face is so scary, many people don’t sympathize with me, scold me, despise me, chase me away and don’t give me anything because they think I Entering their house makes them unlucky,” Mr. Luyen said sadly.
Mr. Luyen said that for many years, he has been begging from Mong Cai (Quang Ninh) to Saigon. With a deformed body , the bus company did not let him go because he was afraid of losing customers, so he had to go to Cau Nghin Traffic Police Station (National Highway 10, through Quynh Phu district) to ask the officers here to take the car and they would let him go. Every 10 days or so, he tries to catch a bus to bring money home to support his wife.
While begging for food in Binh Duong, he was taken to the Center for the Care of the Disabled twice, once in Da Nang and once in Hanoi. But he said: “In there, I am the only one who can be raised and fed, but my wife and children have to endure at home, so I have to ask relatives to sponsor me to return home so I can continue to ask for money to support my wife and children.”
Even though he has a terrible disease, Mr. Luyen always worries and takes care of his disabled wife.
A few years ago, his grandparents still enjoyed the benefits of poor households. However, in the past 2 years, when Mr. Luyen received the benefits for disabled people, the commune cut off the benefits for poor households, so each month he only received an allowance of 405,000 VND. In addition, he is not entitled to any other benefits, while his wife is also disabled.
In addition to his deformed appearance, he also suffered from stomach ulcers, which continued to torment him every day, but he had no money for treatment. “Sometimes when I go to beg for a part of the road, my stomach hurts so much that I sit and cry on the side of the road, until the pain subsides and then I continue to beg,” Mr. Luyen shared.
Mr. Luyen’s wife’s legs are deformed, bent, and unable to walk normally or work, so Mr. Luyen has to beg to support his wife.
Talking about the coming days, Mr. Luyen shared: “I don’t know how many more years I will be able to beg when my illness continues to torment me every day. I only feel sorry for my wife who is disabled, hard of hearing, without me and her.” I don’t know how I will live?!”.
Responding to VTC News reporter , Mr. Do Xuan Chinh – Chairman of Dong Tien Commune People’s Committee (Quynh Phu, Thai Binh) said that everyone in the locality knows about Mr. Luyen’s family situation. Every year, local authorities also provide attention and support on holidays and Tet. The commune government has also completed procedures for Mr. Luyen’s family to receive benefits for people with disabilities.
“We also hope that philanthropists will open their hearts to help Mr. Luyen and his wife’s situation. We hope that the community will join hands to help Mr. Luyen have the funds to treat the evil disease that has tormented him for decades. Now, we can alleviate the pain and misfortune that our grandparents have endured for more than half their lives,’ Mr. Chinh said.
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