Man reunites with family after 22 years

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 wrapped in layers of bandages 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, but could not receive any treatment 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 proper place to sleep for a long time," said Cao's doctor, Nguyen Xuan Vinh, at the Vietnam-German 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. 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 confirmed details with Cao about 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 detective work was nothing short of miraculous for him and his family.

Photos were sent to him to confirm whether the man was his father.

Being 80 percent sure, the son identified his father by talking to him directly using WeChat, the popular social messaging app.

Two days ago, the son and his wife rushed to take a flight and arrived in Hanoi.

"I was so excited to hear the news about my father after 22 years," Cao said while repeating his heartfelt thanks to the Chinese embassy for helping his family so immeasurably.

With smiles on their faces, Cao's hospital roommates, who have also been worried about him, were happy for their new Chinese friend.

"We thought that he had no family and was homeless as he could neither talk nor remember anything. Thank God, his son found him now," Nguyen Duy Thoa, a 59-year-old patient who was in the same treatment room with Cao, said with a heavy sigh of relief.

Though Cao could not express his feelings, his Vietnamese friends could fully understand all of his emotional expressions.

"It was after Cao talked to his son, he kept going in and out the room continuously as if he was waiting for someone. And he even smiled, a lot," Thoa said of his foreign friend.

Cao's son took him home to China on Thursday for further and sustainable treatment.