The story of a Nghe An boy pushing a cart to suck up nails and patch tires for free across Vietnam

After nearly a month of departure, on the night of July 30, Canh arrived in Tan Nghia town, Ham Tan district, Binh Thuan province. When he arrived at the first province of the South Central Coast, he was warmly welcomed, encouraged and cheered on by everyone. This is also one of the localities that left the most impression on him since joining the journey across Vietnam.

Mr. Canh said he is the second child in a family of 4 siblings in Ke Noc village, Mau Duc commune. After finishing high school, due to difficult family circumstances, he went to the South to start a business and has been attached to Binh Duong for 14 years now.

After many years working as a worker for a mattress company, then working as an industrial kitchen assistant… he decided to quit his job to take a special trip in his life: Pushing a cart to suck up nails, patch tires, and fill up gas for free across the country.

To make the trip, he had to think a lot, because before him there were people who did this job. After buying a set of wheels in Ho Chi Minh City, he brought it to Ca Mau, hired a mechanic to make a specialized vehicle to suck up nails on the road.

The truck bed is 0.8m long, 0.75m wide, and 0.5m high. In front, under the truck, there is a magnet plate 0.82m long, 0.15m wide, with 3 rows of magnets that can attract nails, iron, screws, and small metal objects on the road surface.

He made the trip with the desire to spread the message of traffic safety, share difficulties, connect love, experience and challenge himself. Along the "thousand-mile" journey from South to North, he will record the moments he passes through to convey to everyone the understanding of the life, culture and cuisine of people across the country.

The luggage he brought with him on the trip included 3 sets of clothes, a hammock, a folding tent, a tire repair kit, 2 plastic bottles of gasoline, and a phone, all neatly packed in the trunk of the nail-sucking truck.

He started from the Mui Ca Mau monument in Dat Mui commune, Ngoc Hien district (Ca Mau) on July 3. He only brought 50,000 VND as a travel expense, which a friend gave him to buy water on the way. Up to now, he has passed through 11 provinces and cities in the Southwest, Southeast, and South Central regions such as Ca Mau, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Tra Vinh, Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Long An, Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Binh Thuan.

During the journey, in addition to pushing the nail suction truck, he will support with gas and tire patching for free for those in difficult situations within his ability. He said: “On the nail suction truck, there are 2 gas tanks to support those who run out of gas on the road. I just help them have gas to get to the gas station.”

Usually, after each day of travel, he will remove the nails under the magnet of the nail-suction truck once. On average, each time he removes 3-4 nails along with some other small metal objects such as screws, pieces of iron, steel wires, etc. After nearly 1 month of travel, he had to replace, repair, and adjust the size of the magnet plate 3 times. When he was about to pass Dong Nai province, the wheel axle broke, so he had to ask a local to help weld it.

When asked “without travel expenses, what do you use for living expenses and free gas?”, Mr. Canh shared: “Departing with “no money”, but during the trip, I will pick up scrap, such as plastic, iron… to sell, contributing to cleaning the environment, and having extra expenses to buy food, drinks, and gas to support travelers.”

On the journey from Ca Mau to Dong Nai, he helped some motorcyclists who ran out of gas on the road. In return, he also received help from many people on both sides of the road. They gave him drinks, candy, instant noodles, etc.

In the early days of his departure, he encountered many difficulties because no one knew him. He had to "eat and sleep on the streets", had to beg for food along the way and help people in exchange for meals. He said that there was a day when he searched from 5pm to 8pm but still could not find a house to stay, so he had to sleep rough on the sidewalk.

He sleeps wherever he can hang a hammock or pitch a tent. To repel mosquitoes, he often rubs insect repellent on his face and neck... "The hardest part is that there are places where people chase him away as soon as he lies down and takes a nap, because they are afraid of thieves," Canh said.

At first, he used shoes to walk, but then due to heavy rain, his shoes and socks got soaked, making it difficult to move, so he switched to wearing sandals (half shoes, half sandals). According to Mr. Canh, for about the first week, he pushed the cart and walked all day, and at night his feet were so sore that he thought he could not walk anymore. Luckily, everything returned to normal after that.

Mr. Canh said that before taking this trip, he had taken many motorbike trips, joining many groups traveling to the Central Highlands, Quang Ngai, Binh Thuan, etc.

After nearly a month of “marching”, he admitted that his health had declined significantly due to lack of sleep and irregular eating. His white skin that “girls would envy” had darkened due to the sun. He felt that his appearance was “very different” from before he left.

It seems that more and more people know about his journey of attracting nails across Vietnam and he also receives encouragement from many people, both materially and spiritually. "I feel many interesting things about life, especially the love that people have given me. When I passed through Bac Lieu and Dong Nai, I was so moved that I cried" - Mr. Canh shared.

On average, he travels about 20 km per day. On days with favorable weather conditions and cool, cloudy skies, he can travel 38 - 40 km. At this speed, if his health is normal, he expects to reach the Lung Cu flagpole (Ha Giang) in 8 to 9 months.

He is currently on his way to Ninh Thuan. His journey will follow National Highway 1A, and when he reaches Quang Binh, he will turn onto Ho Chi Minh Road. There will be many difficulties and challenges in the coming time, but the Thai man is still determined to complete his plans and projects.

It is known that he is the second Nghe An person to make a cross-country nail-sucking journey in 2023. "Everyone's care and support is a source of motivation for me to try harder. Hopefully, the cross-country nail-sucking journey will contribute to spreading the message of traffic safety in the community" - Mr. Canh said./.