Single father critically burned needs urgent help

Bui Dinh Thang is being treated at the National Burn Hospital in Hanoi.

Doctors said Thang was admitted in severe shock with burns to about 92 per cent of his body from a gas flame explosion, including deep third and fourth degree burns to his face, neck, chest, back and limbs. He spent 50 days on a ventilator and is receiving intensive care with daily wound dressings and high-dose broad-spectrum antibiotics to control infection risk.

If his condition stabilises, he will require multiple surgeries to remove dead tissue and undergo skin grafts. However, because 92 per cent of his skin was burned, there is limited healthy skin available for grafts, presenting major treatment challenges and requiring substitute skin covering materials.

Doctors say the prognosis remains grave due to the extensive deep burns and high risks of infection and sepsis. Treatment costs are expected to be immense, having already exceeded VND 1 billion (about USD 38,000). With ongoing intensive care, Thang still has an estimated 80 per cent chance of survival if treatment continues aggressively. 

Medical staff are deeply concerned that Thang’s family is now devastated financially. The single father is recently divorced and caring for his five-year-old son and his elderly, ailing mother.

Hospital teams are treating Thang while supporting his family and working with social services to find sponsors to help cover treatment costs. “Given his chance of survival, we urgently appeal to Dantri/Dtinews' readers and benefactors to help Thang have a chance to pull through this critical phase,” said doctor Ngo Tuan Hung.

Lying in his hospital bed, Thang listened weakly as doctors spoke. With laboured breath he whispered: “Please save me. I beg kind donors to help me so I can return to my family.”

His 58-year-old mother, Nguyen Thi Tham, who has colon cancer, stays by his side at the hospital. She said family strife led to her son’s divorce two months before the accident, and Thang was caring for his young son alone.

 Thang's mother, Nguyen Thi Tham, stays by his side at the hospital.

On October 4, a sudden gas explosion occurred while Thang was cooking food to sell from a kiosk near his home. After first aid at a local hospital, he was urgently transferred to the National Burn Hospital.

A file photo of Thang and his small son.

“Thang worked hard selling goods every day, saving whatever he could to support his little son and sick mother, never having extra money,” Tham said. “Since the accident, we have been forced to borrow everywhere. Local authorities and relatives have helped, but costs are too high. We are exhausted. We beg readers and kind donors to save Thang.”