Chinese embassy in Vietnam finds him in hospital, looks for relatives

HANOI — A 56-year-old man with a pallid and wizened face slowly touched his right foot, which was being wrappedinlayersofbandages on Wednesday afternoon.

But he could not remember the terrible pain he had suffered over the past years.

Cao Sanzi from China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region was hospitalized at the Vietnam-Germany Hospital in Hanoi 10 days ago with symptoms of chronic anemia. His feet also showed signs of necrosis that needed urgent treatment.

More notably, however, he could barely remember who he was.

Previously, he had been admitted to a hospital in the central Ha Tinh province before being transferred to Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi, butcouldnotreceiveanytreatment due to lack of personal identity and relatives’ consent.

“He must have had a very difficult life with his chronic disease and his foggy mind. He could not get used to sleeping on the bed as if he had no properplacetosleepforalong time,” said Cao’s doctor, NguyenXuanVinh,attheVietnamGerman Hospital.

Cao’s appearance shocked everyone when they came to know that he was just in his late 50s.

“We could not believe that he was born in 1960. He looks so much older than his real age. He is a poor man,” the doctor said.

It all started in 1995 when Cao’s business went downward.

How could they find Cao’s family after only a couple of days? It’s nearly impossible.”

Nguyen Xuan Vinh, doctor at the Vietnam-German Hospital Money went up in smoke and took away his sharp mind. No one knew where he had disappeared to until the Chinese embassy in Vietnam found him in the hospital.

Within two days of being notified that there seemed to be a Chinese citizen at the hospital, the embassy confirmeddetailswithCaoabout his name, family and hometown, then contacted authorities of the autonomous region to shortlist missing cases.

Vague memory

Cao, with only vague recollections, struggled to answer questions about himself as his memory had become blurred.

“How could they find Cao’s family after only a couple of days? It’s nearly impossible,” Vinh said while expressing his admiration for the Chinese embassy’s efforts.

To Cao’s 34-year-old son, Cao Zhengming, the embassy’s