Recently, social media has been abuzz with the story of a woman from Bac Ninh searching for a kind-hearted woman from Phu Tho who lent her eight chi of gold in 2004 so she could afford medical treatment for her child.

The woman who received help is Dinh Hai Nam, born in 1983, living in Yen Phong district, Bac Ninh province. The benefactor is named Nga, born in 1980, originally from Phu Tho.

A stranger’s kindness: Lending gold to save a child

Hai Nam recalled that in 2004, her child had to undergo treatment for hemangioma at the National Children’s Hospital in Hanoi. It was during this time that she met Nga. Despite being strangers, Nga generously lent her eight chi of gold to cover her child's medical expenses.

For years, they kept in touch, and whenever Nam took her child back to the hospital for check-ups, she repaid Nga one chi of gold at a time. However, in 2008, they lost contact when Nam still owed Nga three chi of gold.

After years of searching in vain, on March 13, Nam posted a message on social media, hoping to reconnect with the woman who had once extended a lifeline to her and her child.

Speaking with VietNamNet, Nam recalled that in May 2003, when her daughter was around five or six months old, she discovered that the child had a hemangioma. At the time, the family was struggling financially, and she could only afford to take her daughter to the hospital for medication. By March 2004, the tumor had spread from the baby’s shoulder to her neck and head, leaving Nam with no choice but to admit her to the hospital.

During their hospital stay, Nam and her daughter shared a room with Nga and her child.

Seeing Nam’s hardships, Nga asked, “Do you have money for your child’s surgery yet?”

When Nam admitted that she had registered her child for surgery but had no idea where she would get the money, Nga immediately offered to help.

“Don’t go to work tomorrow. I’ll lend you the money,” Nga told her.

The next day, the two women took the train from Long Bien Station to Phu Tho. “I still vividly remember that it was the F4 train. But since I got motion sickness, I don’t remember every detail of the journey,” Nam said.

She recalled arriving in a stilt-house village after taking a boat ride across a river. Near the military barracks at the final train station, she saw a sign in red lettering on a metal plate. There were local vendors selling wild olives and dried apples. After walking a short distance from the station, they reached a ferry terminal. At the terminal stood a massive tree with thick aerial roots, resembling a banyan tree.

Nga’s family home was in an ethnic minority village with vast cornfields and a flower garden in the front yard. She mentioned having two sisters. Nam remembered a meal where they ate cassava cakes and salted cassava leaves cooked with fish.

Before dinner, Nga took Nam to her room, where she stored her gold in a brown wooden box shaped like a toad.

During the meal, Nga’s father asked Nam to stand so he could observe her. After learning about her situation, he handed her an amulet, telling her it would protect her child. Nga’s mother also gave her two pieces of dried cassava and two dried fish, instructing her to take them home for good luck.

That evening, Nam and Nga returned to Hanoi with the gold.

A 17-year journey to find a benefactor

After receiving treatment, Nga was discharged from the hospital, but Nam and her daughter had to stay longer. With the gold from Nga and additional loans from relatives, Nam was able to afford her child’s surgery.

From 2005 onward, Nam made a point of visiting Nga’s rented room in Cau Giay, Hanoi, every time she took her child to the hospital for check-ups, repaying one chi of gold at a time.

“In 2006, Nga visited me once in Bac Ninh. I knew she had come to collect the debt, but seeing how poor I was, with my child still in the hospital, she instead bought me a bag of rice, two packs of instant noodles, and a little meat. After eating with me, she left,” Nam recalled.

In 2008, when Nam returned to Hanoi to repay the remaining debt, she discovered that Nga had moved out. The landlord handed her a small piece of paper with the address of the company where Nga had worked, but upon arriving, Nam found that the company had closed seven months earlier. From that moment, they lost all contact.

Determined to find Nga, Nam continued searching. In 2009, she remembered a close friend of Nga’s who lived in an apartment complex in Dong Da, Hanoi. She pedaled her bicycle from Bac Ninh to the capital, checking four apartment buildings, but to no avail.

In 2010, Nam gave birth to her second child. Struggling to make ends meet as a single mother, she temporarily put her search on hold. But in 2015, after a friend encouraged her to continue looking, she rekindled her efforts.

In 2017, Nam wanted to find an old photo of her and Nga to post in a newspaper appeal. Tragically, her house caught fire, and the photo was destroyed.

Last year, an uncle from Phu Tho suggested posting on social media for help. That was when she remembered she had uploaded the photo years ago, though she had since forgotten the account details.

After sharing her story online, Nam received several responses, including scam attempts from people pretending to be Nga, hoping to claim the three chi of gold. However, she remained confident that she would recognize her benefactor’s voice instantly.

“The day I met Nga in the hospital, she was already frail and ill. Now, I just hope she is still healthy so I can return what I owe and see how she and her family are doing.

I will do everything I can to find her. I believe I will succeed.”

A joyful reunion: Finding Nga at last

On March 16, Nam finally found Nga. She was now living in Hanoi. Nam shared the good news and announced that she was preparing to meet the woman she had searched for over two decades.

In a heartfelt Facebook live stream, Nam spoke of her long search and confirmed that her story was entirely true, though time had blurred some details. Nga, in turn, asked about Nam’s family and health.

Nam’s daughter, now an adult with children of her own, still bears the scars of her past treatment. She, too, was eager to meet the woman who had once saved her life.

As Nam set off to reunite with Nga, she carried not just three chi of gold but also an overwhelming sense of gratitude.

Tu Linh - Bao Khanh