From “leg brace wearer” to “inventor” of electric wheelchair

17 years of indoor walking brace

For many years, looking at his disabled child, whose body was shrunken due to the effects of Agent Orange, Mr. Ho Xuan Hoa (born in 1953) was always tormented by the thought of giving his child an unhealthy body. Although he was heartbroken when his child had to endure physical and mental misfortune, he always felt a strong pride in his child for living optimistically to support himself and become a strong pillar for his wife and two daughters.

Ho Xuan Thang, his wife and eldest daughter are completing the reverse gear electric wheelchair he invented. Photo: Thanh Quynh

Mr. Hoa remembers clearly that on the day of birth, Ho Xuan Thang was weaker than the other children in the room at that time. In the fourth month, after a prolonged fever, Ho Xuan Thang became a vegetative person. At this time, the doctors comforted him and his wife to take their child home. The family knew that their child would not be able to overcome the disease, so they prepared the burial items.

But then, with extraordinary vitality, the boy Ho Xuan Thang continued to fight the disease and gradually recovered. Until the age of 3, seeing that his son still could not sit or move, the couple took him to the Rehabilitation Center in Ho Chi Minh City for treatment. Once again, the couple suppressed their pain when they learned that their son had spinal atrophy and would never be able to walk like normal people.

Strangely enough, despite the illness that has caused his body to shrink, Ho Xuan Thang is always optimistic and loves life. He even encourages his parents and relatives to be happy and not to pity him, but to see him as any other normal person.

Every day, in addition to making electric wheelchairs, Ho Xuan Thang still works hard on every street corner to sell goods to make a living. Photo: Thanh Quynh

For 17 years, refusing to accept the fact that he was disabled, he still wore a leg brace to practice walking indoors. Many times, dizziness and fatigue due to low blood pressure made him faint on the floor. Or when the weather changed, the pain tormented his body, but he still wanted to practice walking so that he could stand on his own two feet for once.

But fate was cruel, the disease became more and more serious, making his health deteriorate. He had to accept his fate of paralysis and spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. At the age of 18, he was determined to roll his wheelchair out of the house and start making a living by selling small goods. There were days when he had to endure the rain and sun, but he still patiently rolled his wheelchair through every sidewalk and neighborhood. Although it was hard work and the profit was small, but he saved up and not only was he able to support himself, but he even had some savings.

Admiring his willpower, many girls admired and fell in love with him. At the age of 23, he decided to love and marry Trinh Thi Hai, a girl from Thanh Chuong. When his two children were born, he exhausted all his energy to earn more income to cover his living expenses.

Months of hard work made his illness worse, his spine and limbs increasingly shrunk. However, in addition to the time he spent pushing his wheelchair to sell goods, at night he still repaired spare parts and machines for people in the neighborhood.

Become an inventor without ever going to school

Although he had never been to school, Ho Xuan Thang was very intelligent and quick-witted. After being taught to read by his mother at the age of 8, he learned to read books and newspapers without missing a single word. Then gradually, no one expected him to be able to repair electronic devices such as rice cookers, electric bicycles, electric fans, etc. He could "diagnose" electrical devices almost accurately.

Although he has never been to school, Ho Xuan Thang has a talent for repairing and manufacturing electrical equipment. Photo: Thanh Quynh

Since 2007, he has been known as one of the pioneers in making electric wheelchairs with reverse gear for the disabled in the city.

The story began when he came home late from selling goods, it was raining heavily, his car suddenly broke down, he had the idea of ​​making a three-wheeled vehicle with a reverse gear. He quietly sketched the first lines of the electric wheelchair on his daughter's old notebooks. Whatever he thought of, he drew. After finishing, he brought it to the mechanic shops and asked them to make it according to his drawings.

When the machine parts were ready, the process of making the car still had many difficult steps. The process of assembling components onto the circuit board, soldering and adjusting the circuit was difficult for normal people, but extremely difficult for a disabled person like him. The components were all tiny, the circuit required dexterity and meticulousness, and only his right hand could move flexibly. After nearly half a year of tinkering and working non-stop, the electric three-wheeled vehicle with reverse gear was finally completed.

The steering wheel of the car is fully equipped with horn, turn signal, lights... to help disabled people move safely when participating in traffic. Photo: Thanh Quynh

The bike he invented still has all the parts such as horn, turn signals, headlights, battery bar, and throttle. Seeing him moving on the road, many disabled people in the city could not help but admire him and came to him to make a bike. Gradually, people from other districts and provinces also came to him to make bikes for them. What is special is that he often bases on the physical condition and characteristics of each person to make the bike that best suits the user.

He still remembers a special customer of his in Nghi Xuan (Ha Tinh). Mr. Ngoi was a demobilized soldier with a severe disability. Spastic paralysis caused him to be bedridden for nearly 20 years. Because his body could only maintain a certain position due to stiff muscles, he could not use any type of vehicle available on the market. Understanding his suffering, he boldly made a vehicle of his own and Mr. Ngoi has been using it for nearly 5 years now.

Mr. Ngoi (Xuan Vien commune, Nghi Xuan, Ha Tinh) suffered from spastic paralysis and was able to escape being bedridden when Mr. Ho Xuan Thang designed a tricycle for him. Photo: Thanh Quynh

That achievement seemed to give him more motivation to try harder. Over the past 10 years, Mr. Ho Xuan Thang has made nearly 100 electric wheelchairs with reverse gear to serve war invalids and disabled people everywhere.

Thanks to his hard work, Mr. Thang has now built himself a spacious and comfortable house. It is a home where he and his wife always open their doors to help and motivate others in difficult situations to live a happy life and contribute to society.