The Blind Boy's Journey of Light

Waking up in a hospital bed, knowing that he had permanently lost his eyes and part of his right arm, Sang was shocked, but then told himself: I must overcome it, continue living for myself and my family! That young man has courageously walked on the special journey of life, with the light of kindness, the great love of his parents and rare close friendship.

Live a meaningful life

Nguyen Sy Phi Sang (born in 1998) is from Binh Son commune - a mountainous area of ​​Anh Son district. Sang said that he was lucky to be born and raised in a family full of love, parents devoted to their children, and children who were obedient and understanding. As the eldest son, after finishing high school, Sang chose to study excavator driving and quickly found a stable job in the locality, soon having an income to support his family.

Life seemed to be peaceful like that, until one fateful day at the age of 23, Sang suddenly found himself waking up in the air filled with the strong smell of disinfectant of the hospital. “When I first woke up, I didn’t understand what was happening. Everything was pitch black, my whole body was in pain, especially my right arm felt empty as if it didn’t belong to me.” - Sang recalled.

Loving their son, Sang's parents did not dare to tell him about the great loss in his body; only later, when they could no longer hide it, did they choke up and tell the truth. Phi Sang said he was too shocked, too hurt, too afraid of the future, too pessimistic and desperate. But every night, every time he pretended to sleep deeply to reassure his parents, Sang could clearly hear the silent crying that seemed to break his parents' hearts. In the darkness, Sang thought, he was the eldest son, the hope of his parents, he could not fall.

After the wound stabilized, Phi Sang gritted his teeth and practiced sitting up, standing up, walking with unsteady steps because of the lack of direction from his eyes, holding chopsticks and doing everything with only his left arm. Before that, Sang never thought that being a normal person would be so difficult, the simple things in life were such precious gifts from nature.

Some time later, with encouragement from his family, Nguyen Sy Phi Sang made an effort to reintegrate into the community, first by applying to join the Association for the Blind in Anh Son District. Participating in the Association's activities, Sang gradually recognized the members who were in the same situation; patiently talked with them and was surprised to learn more about a world different from the one he had lived in for so long.

In that colorless world, Sang was speechless when he heard about blind and visually impaired people who had extremely difficult circumstances, living very hard lives, most of whom had to rely on subsidies from the government and their families, and some of whom did not even receive attention from their relatives. It seemed that a light had shone into Sang's mind, urging him to do something meaningful, not only for himself but also for everyone. And Sang told his parents about his plan: A trip across Vietnam to sell goods to raise charity funds, to help people in the same situation and to inspire the spirit of overcoming oneself.

At first, everyone objected because they were worried about the unexpected events they would encounter on the way. Crossing Vietnam is not easy, even for healthy people there are many things to worry about, let alone blind people... Luckily, Sang had a dear friend - Pham Ngoc Sy, who enthusiastically supported Sang's idea when he heard about it. Sy temporarily put his work aside, arranged family matters, then together with Sang, made a detailed plan, presented it to both sets of parents, and when they received their consent, they quickly set off.

Journey of charity

To ensure a smooth journey, close friends Sang and Sy decided to put their motorbikes on the bus and buy tickets to Ha Giang. They calculated the starting time of their journey as April 8, 2023, departing from Ha Giang - the northernmost point of the country. They traveled on Sang's motorbike, driven by Sy. Sy was both the driver and the eyes and feet of his friend. Along the way, Sy helped Sang "see the scenery" by describing the scenery along the road: "This section we are passing through is extremely beautiful, golden terraced fields!"; "There is a river here, wider than the river in my hometown"; "Today the sky is clear, it will be sunny at noon"...

Through the provinces and cities, when arriving at residential areas, Sy pulled the car up to the sidewalk, held Sang's hand and led him to stand selling at a safe spot. Sang's basket was like many other mobile baskets, containing toothpicks, cotton swabs, chewing gum, a few pens... The products were sold at popular prices, and the money collected from the special sales "campaign" was all collected by Sang into a fund dedicated to charity. "My parents fully supported the expenses for food, accommodation, and travel, without taking a single penny from the income from the trip." - Sang said.

101 days traveling through 63 provinces and cities, Nguyen Sy Phi Sang said that this is a journey that he will never forget in his life. So many sad and happy memories, so many hardships and difficulties, but also shining with so much love. There were many times when traveling on the road without finding a motel, while it was already dark and people were tired, the two close friends knocked on the doors of people's houses along the road to ask to stay overnight. "Some people agreed, some did not. Actually, I sympathized with them, because suddenly there were 2 tall young men asking to stay overnight, so of course they were worried. When we couldn't find a place to sleep, we hung hammocks on the roadside, or sometimes we came across an abandoned house and stayed there temporarily." - Sang said.

Street food, porridge, instant noodles; ridicule, doubt, contempt… all of them have been experienced, but for that young man, hardship is nothing compared to the warmth received. What remains after all is the kindness from strangers. The enthusiastic food and beverage vendors invited the couple to rest and eat for free; the elementary school students ran out and said “uncle, we don’t have money to buy anything, we only have this cake and milk for breakfast”; the group of students in Hue spread out everywhere to help the couple sell goods; the people who bought and paid respectfully, without discrimination; countless wishes of luck and success from passersby…

Nguyen Sy Phi Sang said that he learned a lot from this trip, which gave him more faith in life and gave him the strength to live a better life. Another unexpected joy for the Sang - Sy couple was that when they posted a video clip about the trip on the social network TikTok, they received a lot of love from everyone. Many people followed the couple's itinerary closely, then texted, called to meet, chat, and offered practical help. Some videos attracted more than 2 million views, with thousands of comments expressing admiration for the special journey of the blind boy.

That journey did not stop because the couple had finished their trip through 63 provinces and cities across the country, because it continued to be lit up with the loving activities that Nguyen Sy Phi Sang gave to people in the same situation. The amount of more than 53 million VND earned from selling goods and receiving support in 101 days was partly converted by Sang into goods, partly in cash to send to the visually impaired in difficult circumstances in Binh Son commune, Anh Son district; the rest, he is nurturing a bigger plan, such as collecting capital to build a livelihood model for the visually impaired in the area.

“I want to add more faith and affirm to people in the same situation that although we are disabled, we are not useless; this society still has countless good things, let's open our hearts to receive love, live optimistically and be useful.” - Nguyen Sy Phi Sang affirmed.