They had been married for just one year when the wife fell seriously ill and was confined to bed. Since then, for nearly 8 years, the husband has quietly and tenderly cared for his disadvantaged wife. Though still young and without children, the husband is determined to stay by his wife’s side for life.
That is the sad yet beautiful fairy-tale love story of the couple Le Dinh Tinh and Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh in Hamlet 7, Huong Thuy Commune, Huong Khe District (Ha Tinh).
Happiness all too brief!
Tinh is the second child in a family of six children. Family life depended only on a few contracted plots of land, so Tinh and his siblings did not get much schooling.
Day after day, Tinh followed his father to work as a hired labourer everywhere. Honest and hard-working by nature, he was loved and valued by everyone.
The wedding photograph of Mr and Mrs Tinh
In 2006, Tinh met Anh, who was from the neighbouring commune. Sharing the same circumstances, the two soon found common ground and empathy. After a year of getting to know each other, they decided to come together in a small wedding. On the day Tinh and Anh decided to come together, everyone in the hamlet rejoiced and wished the young couple well.
That happiness seemed to multiply when Ms Anh became pregnant with their first child. With added motivation, Mr Tinh worked day and night to look after his home.
But cruelly, the pregnancy lasted only four months. Though deeply pained, he always stayed strong, always a support, comforting and encouraging his wife.
Then, some time later, Ms Anh became pregnant again. Both hoped the child in the womb would be safe and healthy. But who would have thought that fate once again seemed to toy with the young couple. The second pregnancy also lasted only three months.
Perhaps this time it was more than the couple could bear. Both feared it, and did not dare to think of becoming pregnant again.
Though he tries to hold back the pain, sadness still shows on his face
Before this pain had eased, another tragedy truly struck the young couple’s small home. At the end of 2008, Ms Anh suddenly became paralysed in one leg, then in half her body, then in her whole body. The “strange illness” progressed so fast that no one in the family understood what was happening.
At Bach Mai Hospital, Ms Anh was told by the doctors that she had viral encephalitis.
After many months of treatment, Ms Anh’s condition did not improve at all, but grew worse day by day. Partly because they no longer had enough money, and partly because they saw the illness had no chance of improving, Mr Tinh decided to take his wife back home.
“I will never abandon my wife!”
For nearly 8 years now, Ms Anh has only lain in one place, her whole body completely paralysed. But she still senses everything happening around her. Whenever someone asks about her situation, or when she thinks about her husband, Ms Anh cries.
Tinh tenderly cares for his wife
“My wife is paralysed all over, but her mind is still clear. She knows what is happening. Many times, out of love for me, she just cries,” Mr Tinh confided.
After eight years lying in one place, all of Ms Anh’s daily life now depends on Mr Tinh’s hands.
Seeing a man just past 30, with an honest, simple face darkened by hardship and full of feeling, tenderly caring for his wife in every little thing, moves everyone.
Early every morning, Mr Tinh gets up, cooks rice, washes his wife, feeds her, and then goes to work. At noon he hurries home again to look after his wife. Every day is the same!
The past nearly eight years have been a very difficult time for him. There have been quite a few words and pieces of advice urging him to find another woman, because he is still so young, while Ms Anh will never have a future. Having children is also impossible.
It is truly hard for him to keep facing such words.
Whatever happens, Mr Tinh will never abandon his wife.
“Until now, many people have advised me to take a second wife to look after my future. But I will never do that; my wife has already suffered too much. I will stay by her side and care for her until the end of her life. I will never abandon my wife,” words shared from the bottom of his heart that made everyone present unable to hold back their tears.
He only wishes for one thing: if he and she could have a child, he would be comforted and encouraged so much.
“It really is very difficult; sometimes I feel lonely and empty too. I wish that if my wife and I had a child, I would feel much less sorry for myself now.”
Mr Le Dinh Thuyet (Mr Tinh’s father) confided: “Tinh loves his wife very much. As parents, seeing our son face so much misfortune pains us too. The trouble is, the family has many children and everyone is poor, so all we can do is encourage him.”
When we left, the sun had already set. As soon as he had said goodbye to us, Mr Tinh hurried into the small kitchen to prepare dinner. The image of an honest, simple man tenderly looking after his bedridden wife stayed in my mind all the way home.
Xuan Sinh http://dantri.com.vn/