Couple calls for help for their “ghost” children

A couple in Hung Yen Province is in desperate need of financial support to help two of their children, who suffer a rare and painful skin disease that has earned them the taunt of "ghosts".

The two children suffer from a rare and painful skin disease

Tran Van Tung and Nguyen Thi Dao, in Kim Dong District, have three children, but the eldest and youngest were born with ichthyosis vulgaris, a scaling of the skin which cracks and bleeds.

Their eldest child, Tran Thi Phuong Thao, 10, is in almost constant pain and doctors have so far been unable to find a treatment for her condition, which presents as chapped and bloody skin. Usual treatments, such as acidic lotions to exfoliate the scales are expensive and have so far proved ineffective. She cannot attend school because other children and adults call her a "ghost".

Instead, she is taught at home by her younger sister, Tran Thi Quynh Chi, born in 2008, who escaped the genetic condition, which in milder forms affects some one-in-10 people. Thao can write and count.

“I liked going to school very much, but I am afraid of being called as a ghost,” Thao said.

In 2014, the couple had a boy, Tran Hung Minh, but he inherited the same condition and cries himself to exhaustion because of the pain.

Their father works as a motorbike driver in Hanoi, while their mother works the land to grow enough for them to eat.

If you can help, please donate through:

1. Code 1710: Tran Van Tung and Nguyen Thi Dao: Coc Ngang Village, Pham Ngu Lao Commune, Kim Dong District, Hung Yen Province

Mobile: 0166.567.1395

2. Compassionate Hearts Charity Fund – Dan tri Newspaper (Hanoi).

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