Extraordinary Willpower and Beautiful Love Story of a Paralyzed Boy

Disabled boy with great determination

Ta Duy Huy (born in 1969) is the fifth child in a family of five siblings. Not as fortunate as his older siblings, when he was born Huy was just like any other child with love and care from his parents.

However, when he was 2 years old, he had acute diarrhea. His parents tried to treat him, but then they saw him gradually getting weaker, his legs were limp, he lay in one place and could not stand or walk like other children.

Having been paralyzed since childhood, Huy's legs gradually atrophied. Photo: Duc Thanh

At that time, although the family's conditions were still difficult and the country was in turmoil, his mother took her sick child everywhere to seek medical treatment. But wherever she went, she only received a shake of the head from the doctors. The mother and son returned home in despair.

Paraplegia, so all personal activities had to rely mainly on hands. When he was old enough to go to school, seeing his friends going to school, Huy longed to go to school with them. To ease his sadness and partly erase his own inferiority complex, Huy's father carried him to school every day. However, Huy's studies did not last long, when he was 12 years old, his father passed away in a traffic accident. His mother, because of "bread and butter" to take care of her children, had to accept it due to circumstances and fate.

“Growing up, when my friends were able to run around and play around the neighborhood with their childhood games, for me it was a big dream. Every time I looked down at my increasingly atrophied legs, I would burst into tears, just wanting to be healed and normal again,” Huy sadly recalled.

Walking on his feet seemed impossible, so his arms became his “legs” and his buttocks served as a support for his body. However, the first days of learning to “walk” were not easy for Huy.

The first day, the second day, and then many days of practicing like that, Huy’s hands became calloused, and his butt was bleeding from having to repeatedly scrape the floor with mixed dirt and rocks. The result of that persistent practice was that he was able to move his “steps” more neatly and skillfully. Because he could not walk normally, his pants could only be worn for a short time before they had to be thrown away because they were torn all over his butt.

Able to walk with his hands, Huy also started to “drag” himself to the fields with his friends to catch crabs, snails, and eels… to improve his family’s meals, as well as earn extra income. Taking that as motivation, he told himself that he needed to try harder.

At the age of 13, Huy had a new job, which was to practice patching and repairing bicycles after learning from his neighbors. Although the new job was more leisurely because he did not have to travel much, the customers who came to patch tires mainly sympathized with Huy's situation.

Repairing for a long time became a habit, and more and more customers came to him. The shaking car to serve the shopping of items and tools for car repair was also born from that. He had the conditions to travel more, more conveniently.

“I personally love bicycle repair, but because my family is poor and has no capital, I have to do it piecemeal. If I had the means to open a small shop to “practice” the job, it would be less difficult,” said Huy.

Matchmaking and a Happy Ending

Besides catching crabs, snails, and eels, he also does not forget his job of repairing and patching motorbikes. Photo: Duc Thanh

Like Mr. Huy, Ms. Vuong Thi Lien (born in 1969), residing in Hong Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, also has a less fortunate situation. Ms. Lien has suffered from congenital nearsightedness since birth, so her eyes can only see dimly.

Although her family took her to many places for treatment, all efforts were in vain. She accepted her fate with her blurred eyes. When she reached the age of marriage, although she was introduced to a husband by many people, because of her inferiority complex, Lien did not dare to think about her own happiness. After many times like that, she finally took a chance for herself, and that was the meeting with Huy, a man from the neighboring commune, who is now her husband.

Ms. Vuong Thi Lien shared: “We met each other through the introduction of brothers and friends. Meeting Huy, through the conversations, I felt his sincerity, although his illness at that time was a huge obstacle for the two of us to consider and think. However, over time, our feelings for each other grew stronger. Sympathizing with his situation, I was even more moved by the determination and will to rise up in life of that man, making me love him even more...”.

By the age of 27, the age when all of their friends in the countryside had a happy and peaceful family, for them it was the most important time when they decided to live together under one roof. On the day they announced their relationship to both families, they encountered opposition from Lien's relatives, along with slander and prohibition.

Ms. Lien recalls: “When the two of them decided to get married, her family objected because they were afraid that she would suffer if she married a disabled man like him. And with both of their illnesses, they were afraid that they would become a burden to each other, and whether their happiness would last long.”

After a long time of hard work, the two finally proved to everyone their love and trust, and both families agreed to let them be together.

Besides repairing bicycles and patching motorbike tires, in the summer he also sells sugarcane juice to make a living.

After the wedding, to make ends meet, in addition to making a living by catching crabs, snails, and eels, they also opened a grocery store, sold sugarcane juice in the summer, and made brooms to sell around Tet. Huy also did not forget his job patching tires and repairing bicycles.

Love blossomed, bore fruit, and joy multiplied when Ms. Lien gave birth to three children, all healthy and whole. Although life was still difficult and hard, in that small house, there was always a lot of love that the couple had for each other.

Looking at her husband with affection, Ms. Lien shared: “No one has everything and no one loses everything. He has a sincere heart, and I have healthy legs. I vow to be half of his life, to be his legs for the rest of my life. And he will be my eyes. As long as we love each other with sincere hearts, all difficulties will pass."

Duc Thanh