Farewell to a leader: Nguyen Phu Trong’s last days remembered

Associate Professor, doctor Nguyen Phuong Dong, who had been overseeing Trong’s health at the 108 Military Central Hospital in Hanoi for several years, said that every day around 9 a.m., Trong met with his assistants and secretaries and listened to their reports on work matters.

After 10:30 a.m. and during the afternoon, he would receive Party and state top officials to discuss further work. After that, if he felt well enough, he would read and study related documents until the evening.

“On July 13, he was still working, but in the afternoon we had to place him on a ventilator,” Dong recalled.

Directly taking care of the Party chief for the past four years, major and nurse Nguyen Thi Hong said she “greatly admired the General Secretary’s extraordinary work spirit.”

Hong said Trong usually did not take much time to rest. When awake, aside from drinking tea in the morning and exercising, he would read newspapers, work, and receive guests, and it was doctors and nurses who had to suggest him rest.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong reads a book when staying for treatment at the 108 Military Central Hospital in Hanoi, May 10, 2024. Photo courtesy of the hospital

Major General, Professor Le Huu Song, Director of 108 Central Military Hospital, said: “We were amazed by the General Secretary’s work spirit. We feel so small.”

He stated that the Central Committee for Protection and Health Care of Cadres, along with the hospital, consulted medical experts both domestically and internationally to provide the best treatment plan for Trong.

“When we asked for his approval for the treatment plan and using medical techniques, he always said ‘I will follow the orders’. The patient was persistent in treatment and strictly followed instructions, trying his best to eat and exercise step by step to recover,” Song said.

Outside the treatment room, a wooden table and chairs were arranged in the hallway for Trong.

Every day, he would sit there to watch the Red River at dawn and dusk, discuss current events, or have pleasant conversations with the medical staff. Sometimes, he would recite poems about the landscape and life, or recount childhood stories about cycling in Dong Anh District of Hanoi, where he grew up.

“What impressed us most about the General Secretary was his simple, sincere demeanor and his great concern for the lives of the staff in the department,” nurse Hong said, adding that he had asked about the children of the medical staff, such as how old they were, how their studies were going, and if they faced any difficulties.

Nurse Nguyen Thi Hong (L) and doctor Nguyen Phuong Dong at the 108 Central Military Hospital in Hanoi. Photo coutesy of the hospital

In the final moments, knowing that they could not save Trong, many doctors and nurses cried. “These past few days, since the General Secretary left this room, we have always looked towards his desk, remembering his kind inquiries, the songs, and poems he recited. It is a great loss,” said one member of staff.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong passed away at the hospital at 1:38 p.m. on July 19, after a period of serious illness. He was 80 years old.

A state funeral will take place on July 25 and 26.

He will lie in state at the National Funeral Home at 5 Tran Thanh Tong Street, Hanoi. Mourners can pay their respect from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on July 25, and from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on July 26. A memorial ceremony will take place at 1 p.m. on July 26, and he will be buried at Mai Dich Cemetery at 3 p.m. the same day.

During the two days of state mourning, offices and public places will fly the national flag at half-mast, and all public entertainment events will be suspended.

In a career spanning 60 years, Trong had “many major, exceptional contributions to the glorious revolutionary cause of the Party and the people,” said a joint statement from the Central Party Committee, the National Assembly, President To Lam, the government and the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front.

He was awarded the Gold Star Order and the 55-year Party membership badge by Vietnam’s Communist Party and the state, along with other international awards such as the National Gold Medal by the Lao President, the Friendship Medal by the Chinese Party and state, the Lenin Award by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Russia, and the Jose Marti Badge of the Cuban Party and state.