Severely disabled soldier makes 'new legs' to help people in the same situation

(Baonghean.vn) - With a creative mind,War invalid Dinh Van Canh (born 1959), residing in hamlet 4, Dien Tho commune, Dien Chau districtinvented wheelchairs and three-wheeled motorbikes to support teammates and the disabled.

Practice walking with hands

Meet war invalid Dinh Van Canh in his 3-storey house on National Highway 1A, which is also his wheelchair and motorbike repair shop for the disabled. His wife, Pham Thi Lai, drives a small truck every day to import beer for stores in Dien Chau district.

When a guest arrived, Mr. Canh was repairing a three-wheeled motorbike and quickly stopped. He quickly grabbed two wooden chairs and used his hands to... walk to the table to make tea for the guest.

Born into a rural family in Dien Tho commune, Dinh Van Canh was luckier than many of his peers when he finished high school. In 1979, when he was just 20 years old, Canh volunteered to join the armed police force. The time he enlisted was also when the border situation on both sides of the country was very hot. In the North, there was a war of aggression caused by China, and in the Southwest, Pol Pot's forces continuously harassed and escalated.

Immediately after completing his training, Dinh Van Canh was assigned to the mechanical department and joined a volunteer unit that went to Cambodia to carry out an international mission to drive out Pol Pot’s army. Many Vietnamese soldiers died in this brutal war.

Disabled soldier Dinh Van Canh does everything with his own hands. Photo: Xuan Hoa

During the attack on a Pol Pot base in September 1983, Mr. Canh was injured by a mine planted by the enemy around the base. After the loud explosion, he lay motionless with both legs crushed. None of his teammates thought he would survive. But with luck and extraordinary determination, Mr. Canh overcame the hands of death.

The injury of 1/4 amputation of both legs was a big shock for the young man from Dien Chau. All activities and life were turned upside down. Even personal hygiene became extremely difficult. But for Mr. Canh, being able to live and return to his homeland was still luckier than many of his comrades. However, he did not want to become a burden to society, so after his wounds healed, he found a way to walk on his hands. With the courage of a person who had experienced the cruelty of war, Mr. Canh gradually overcame his physical disability, regained his balance and calmed down.

After a while, he was transferred to Nghe An Nursing Home for Seriously Invalid Soldiers, but because he missed his hometown and his elderly parents, Mr. Canh wrote a request to return to his hometown.

Helping the disabled have “new legs”

Mr. Canh is repairing a tricycle for a disabled person. Photo: Xuan Hoa

Returning to normal life, with a three-wheeled hand-held cart provided by the government, Mr. Canh went to the market every day, selling whatever he could find. One day, when he reached the middle of the field, it started to rain, the goods on the cart were heavy, and he could not move them in the mud, so he got soaked in the rain all night, luckily someone who was looking for frogs discovered them and helped push them back. That time, his wound relapsed and he was sick for several weeks.

After his illness, the war invalid always had the idea of ​​inventing a 3-wheeled motorbike with a reverse gear for convenient transportation. Although he had the idea, Mr. Canh did not have the money to buy components, nor did he know who to borrow from, so he decided to do business to collect and buy each part... After more than a year, the basic components were finally complete...

With the mechanical knowledge he had learned in the military, he spent day and night trying to build a three-wheeled automatic vehicle. He did it alone, over and over again, dragging here and there with great difficulty. After nearly a year of experimenting, the three-wheeled vehicle with reverse gear as he wished was completed.

When seeing the disabled veteran riding an automatic three-wheeled vehicle on the village road, many people admired his talent. With his "new legs", he was also more comfortable in traveling and trading. Seeing that he could ride a vehicle conveniently, many other disabled veterans contacted him, and even disabled people came to his house to order him to make it. At first, he did it for them and asked families to buy components for him to assemble. But the purchased components did not meet the standards, so it was very difficult, so he quit his job selling at the market to come home and assemble vehicles to sell to the disabled.

“At first, when they saw it, they came to ask for help. But the components they bought did not fit together and were difficult to assemble, so it took a lot of time, so I went and bought them myself, assembled them, and then sold them to them. I said I sold them, but I only deducted the cost of the components to get a few coins of labor to take care of my own life and my family,” Mr. Canh confided.

Mr. Dinh Van Canh and Mrs. Pham Thi Lai. Photo: Xuan Hoa

But difficulties began to arise in the work of creating three-wheeled vehicles. Because finding components to assemble a three-wheeled vehicle is not easy. But with the will to create “new legs” to help the disabled, including many war invalids, he went to the northern provinces with many components such as Quang Ninh, Hai Phong … to choose and buy each screw to assemble many vehicles for many disabled people.

Not only that, Mr. Canh also created manual wheelchairs and rocking cars that can be powered by electricity and hand cranked to suit each person’s disability. He has created hundreds of “legs” for war invalids and disabled people so that they can easily integrate into the community and improve their lives.

Mr. Nguyen Dung, in Dien Hoa commune (Dien Chau district) said: "Not only does Mr. Canh make three-wheeled vehicles, he also helps severely disabled veterans like us with capital and teaches us how to do business. Thanks to him, many disabled veterans like us have risen up to integrate into the community and become rich legitimately."

Admiring the will of war invalid Dinh Van Canh, Mrs. Pham Thi Lai, a beautiful woman from Dien Phuc commune (Dien Chau district) fell in love with him. Then a warm wedding took place, a perfect result for the war invalid who lost both legs.

“I admired him many times when I saw him repairing and assembling vehicles for disabled people. Then that feeling overcame all barriers and I decided to come to him,” Ms. Lai shared.

Now Mr. Canh and his wife have a spacious house in Dien Tho commune. The remaining house in Dien Chau town is rented out and used as a business for the family. All four children are grown up and healthy. Two daughters, one is a student at Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy, the other is a student at Hanoi Banking Academy.

From his efforts to overcome his circumstances, Mr. Canh was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and was praised and rewarded by many levels and sectors.

Xuan Hoa