Justine Le Mauff, a volunteer, offers a vivid testimonial of a beneficiary at Maison Chance
| At Maison Chance, Tan is member of the family. Handicap and orphan, he died at the age of 17. He will be missed. |
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Tan joined Maison Chance when he was 11 year old. He suffers from cerebral palsy symptoms. He has difficulty walking and developed spasticity (uncontrolled movement of the head). His condition aggravated since last year and a doctor prescribed an operation. However the operation did not succeeded and Tan became quadriplegic. This year has been a constant go and return from hospital.
In Vietnam, there is a very advanced medical support much like in occidental countries. However, these hospitals are not accessible to the common people. Instead at Cho Ray hospital, where Tan has been transferred, the corridors are full of sick and wounded people on makeshift beds. Some beds have 2 sick people at the same time. Adding to the confusion are members of the patients’ family who come to the hospital to take care of their relatives, bring food, and take shift at the bedside, sometime sleeping under the patient’s bed itself. When there is a crisis or emergency, the patient could wait sometime more than 10 minutes to see a doctor or nurse.
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At the end of last year, Tan suffered from a cardiac crisis and since developed a severe respiratory deficiency. He has been placed under respiratory assistance and the medical team of Maison Chance have been relaying at his bedside to operate a hand pump which must be pumped every 3 seconds. He was transferred to emergency on December 31 where he should have been in the first place. At the emergency, the Maison Chance team spent the New Year Eve with Tan while operating the respiratory pump. Tan lived for 3 more weeks with an aggravating pulmonary infection.
His adoptive parents decided to take back home to Long An, 60 km away from Saigon. The beneficiaries and members of Maison Chance went to see him for the last time and he died on 21 January 2010 at noon 40 at the age of 17.
At his funeral there were a lot of disabled in wheelchairs. Maison Chance has also rented a bus allowing everybody who had known him during the last 5 years and who wishes to assist at his funeral to come. For some, he was a brother, a cousin, for others he is a friend or a nephew. But for all, he was the little jolly fellow. He loved to laugh. With him, a family member has left.
Tan’s grave yard is at the end of a walk path, along the rice paddies in the heart of Long An. The beneficiaries of Maison Chance have been with him to the end. It’s a pity that in Vietnam, only the rich have access to advanced medical care. However, in a way, Tan can be considered lucky since he has been with surrounded until the end, while others are simply left to die alone. That is not a consolation in itself.
Justine Le Mauff
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