The boy’s family emotionally expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the woman who unhesitatingly risked her life to save their child.

On the afternoon of September 10, a quiet gloom hung over the modest house of Hoang Thi Hien, the kindergarten teacher struck by a truck while saving her student, in Nghia Trung hamlet (Nghia Hanh commune, Nghe An province). Outside, heavy rain poured down.

Hoang Sy Quy, 63, had just picked up his two grandchildren, Hien’s children, after school. This was usually Hien's routine, but since her hospitalization, Quy has stepped in to care for them.

In the kitchen, Nguyen Thi Mai, 59, Ms. Hien’s mother, quietly lit the stove to cook dinner, occasionally glancing toward the two young children.

Nearby, Trinh Trong Toan, 42, residing in Tan Lam hamlet, and his wife brought their 4-year-old son, T.T.H., to visit Hien’s family.

The moment she saw Mai, Pham Thi Van - Toan’s wife - embraced the mother of the hospitalized teacher and broke into tears, choked up with gratitude.

Young H. was the boy Hien had shielded from the oncoming truck.

Around 2:00 PM on August 28, outside the Tan Lam satellite campus of Phu Son Kindergarten (Nghia Hanh commune), a sudden accident inverted Hien’s life and those of her two young children.

According to school leaders, that afternoon, a 2-year-old boy was brought to school by his elder sister for his first day.

Seeing his sister leave, the boy suddenly darted onto the road after her. Noticing the child in immediate danger, Hien instantly rushed out to stop him. At that moment, a truck approached and ran over both of her legs. Despite her severe injuries, Hien managed to hold onto the boy and dragged herself to the curb.

Around 2:30 PM the same day, Toan received a phone call from a relative notifying him that his son was involved in an accident near the school gate, and that a teacher had her legs crushed while saving him.

The couple rushed to the scene. The first image he saw was Hien lying by the roadside, bleeding heavily.

A local resident used a personal car to carry her to a medical facility. Throughout the 12-kilometer dirt road journey, Toan constantly called out: "Hien, please don't sleep, don't close your eyes."

Upon reaching the Ho Chi Minh Highway, Hien was transferred to an ambulance, taken to Tan Ky Medical Center, and subsequently transferred to a higher-level facility for advanced care.

Meanwhile, Van took her son for a medical examination. Fortunately, young H. suffered only minor scrapes on his knees and is now able to walk.

Recalling that moment, Toan could not hide his emotion. "Everything happened unexpectedly for both our families. My family deeply pities her and is forever grateful that she risked her life to save my child. Hien is like a second mother who gave him life again. We pray for her speedy recovery," Toan said emotionally.

"When will Mommy come home?"

After an unhappy marriage ended in divorce about two years ago, Hien brought her two children to live with her mother in Nghia Hanh Commune.

Since then, the young mother has raised the two children on her own. Life is difficult, but she remains devoted to her job as a kindergarten teacher. The sudden accident has turned the lives of the mother and her two children upside down.

Holding her young grandchild in her arms, Mai said the two children have repeatedly asked about their mother in recent days.

"My older daughter keeps asking, 'Why hasn't Mom come home? When will her leg get better so she can come home?' All I can do is reassure them and tell them that their mother is getting better and preparing to come home," Mai said, her eyes reddening with tears.

The children's innocent questions make their grandmother even more heartbroken. She understands that Hien still faces a long road to recovery and to adjusting to life after the tragedy.

Hien is currently receiving treatment at Viet Duc University Hospital. According to Le Thi Hien, principal of Nghia Hanh Kindergarten, the teacher's condition has stabilized following surgery to amputate her right lower leg.

Nguyen Xuan Nam, chair of the Nghia Hanh Commune People's Committee, said through various media channels, the local authorities have called for more than VND2 billion in donations to help her.

https://vietnamnet.vn/co-giao-phai-cat-mot-chan-sau-khi-cuu-tre-phu-huynh-noi-loi-nghen-ngao-2554017.html