Former Vietnamese national football player Vo Van Bien, renowned nationwide in the 1970s and 1980s, is suffering extreme pains in hospital and yet unable to pay for the necessary treatment plan.
In 2008, 61-year-old Bien was diagnosed with gout. Since he could not afford any medical treatment other than painkillers, the disease worsened and over time led to chronic kidney failure.
Bien has had to take up dialysis on a regular basis until two months ago, when he was hospitalized due to pleural effusion.
“I thought I could not survive because the disease was already in its final stage,” Bien said.
“I can almost eat nothing, and cannot even lie down for sleep.”
The erstwhile 1.7-meter strong defender weighing 70kg is now only a shadow of his former self -- 40kg in weight, his fingers paralyzed due to the ganglia, and his legs too weak to hold up his body due to edema.
“My legs used to kick the ball over a 70-meter distance, but now they even cannot help me stand on my own feet.”
“I have thought of asking the doctors for a lethal injection to end the pains forever.”
Bien lives with five other family members in a small house in Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Thanh District. The entire family lives on the meager incomes of his wife and daughter.
“My family has been in a miserable state since I had the diseases.”
In latest development, SHB Da Nang’s midfielder Minh Phuong on Monday asked Tuoi Tre to send his financial aid of VND5 million (US$240), which is the bonus he gained after winning over KienlongBank Kien Giang in the National Cup quarterfinals last week, to help Bien.
Meanwhile, former midfielder Nguyen Phuc of Cang Saigon (Saigon Port) football club also said he would come to Tuoi Tre’s newsroom on Tuesday to grant Bien VND20 million for medical treatment.
“I was so sorry to learn of his illness, and I do wish he would recover soon.”
| Vo Van Bien was born in 1951 in Cambodia. In 1970, he returned to Vietnam and gave up his job as a welder to take up football. During his football career, Bien played for many HCM-based football teams. He was many times recruited to play on the HCMC and Vietnamese national football teams. He decided to retire from football at the age of 31 and took up work as a loader at the Eastern Bus Station to make ends meet. |
