VietNamNet Bridge - Adults say “that whenever my tongue is cut, my tongue can be put into my mouth, so I want to get to the hospital. But my parents are poor. They do not have money so I do not know when I’m able to go to hospital."



That is the wish of a little girl named Duong Thi Thao, 14, in Xuan Tac village, Phuong Giao commune, Vo Nhai district, Thai Nguyen province.

"The doctors said my daughter suffered from neck and chin tumor so Thao’s tongue developed bigger and bigger so it cannot be in the mouth anymore, said Thao’s father, Duong Van That.

Thao’s tongue is oversized. It overflows to the outside, flushes like a donut.

The girl’s father said Thao was born in 1998. At her birth, the doctor diagnosed that the baby caught with a neck-chin tumor. Since then her tongue just swelled and protruded out. The family does not have any member who has had this disease before. At that time, Thao’s mother cried all the tears when she saw the child with a disability. Hearing about a baby with a long and big tongue, the villagers flocked to see the baby. The large, long tongue makes Thao never be able to close her lips.

Feeling a complex about her odd tongue, Thao is afraid of seeing strangers. At home, the little girl does a lot of housework to help her parents, such as taking care of her younger brother, cooking, washing clothes, watering vegetables, raising pigs...



Thao’s parents are very poor. They managed to borrow money to take their daughter to a big hospital in Hanoi for treatment but that plan has not become true.

"In this mountainous area, everyone is poor so I cannot borrow money from them," Thao’s mother said.
 
For 14 years, her tongue has been getting bigger, with wide cracks so the little girl has to carry a handkerchief with her to absorb the blood. In the dry winter, the girl suffers from headaches and neck pain.

Her teeth always bite on the tongue. It is extremely difficult for Thao to eat, swallow saliva or even breath. Yet for nine years, Thao has been an excellent student of the Phuong Giao Secondary School.

Mr. Duong Van Kieu, Chairman of Phuong Giao commune, said that Thao’s family is in especially difficult circumstances so the school and the local government regularly visit and present gifts to Thao at the beginning of the school year. But Phuong Giao is a poor district. At present, four villages in the commune still do not have electricity nor telephone network, while the traffic is very difficult. Thus, the commune’s assistance is just for encouragement.
 
"Please help me go to the hospital to cut off my tongue to make it smaller. I just have that dream!” Thao said.
 
All donations to Thao should be sent to:

1. Mr. Duong Van That, Tuat Tac village, Phuong Giao commune, Vo Nhai district, Thai Nguyen province

2. Compassion Fund of Dan Tri Newspaper, Lane 2, No. 48, Giang Vo Street, Hanoi

Tel: 04. 3. 7366.491/ Fax: 04. 3. 7366.490
Email: quynhanai@dantri.com.vn

Compiled by Mai Lan