– The wedding of the wounded soldier who lost both legs in Hamlet 3, Dien Chau Town (Nghe An), to a beautiful village girl took everyone by real surprise.
People thought that once married, the couple would face much misfortune, but it was their determination and fierce will to live that proved to everyone that simple love can help them overcome everything.
Mr Canh assembling the reverse gearbox of a three-wheeled motorbike.
Coming together as if by fate
Dinh Van Canh (born 1959) was born into a poor family with many siblings. A difficult, hard life instilled in him diligence and perseverance. In 1978, after graduating from high school, Dinh Van Canh was admitted to the armed police force and sent to study weapons repair abroad. He then studied at the Border Guard technical secondary school in Saigon. After completing the course, he was sent to fight in support of Cambodia as a scout. But luck did not smile on him: in 1984, while on duty, he stepped on a mine and lost both legs.
After a year, he returned to his locality with a disability rating of 1/4, and that did not discourage him. What pained him most was seeing his parents in poor health and unable to work much, and his younger siblings still of school age. But having lost both legs, he had not yet thought of what he could do to earn a living. After receiving the three-wheeled hand-cranked vehicle provided by the state, he had to wheel himself to the market every day to trade. From selling cloth to selling sundries such as belts, hair clips and lighters,… He even distributed beer around Dien Chau Town, having it loaded onto his vehicle at the brewery and then delivering it to each small eatery. Though it was hard work, he felt very happy and proud to earn honest money to support his parents and his siblings’ schooling.
His body no longer whole, he thought he could never find happiness for himself. But, to his surprise, admiring the will to live of this wounded soldier, Ms Pham Thi Lai (born 1969), from a neighbouring commune, fell in love with him. Ms Lai was born into a well-mannered family with a revolutionary tradition. Tall, with a particularly charming smile, she was pursued by many young men but paid them no attention. Once, while going to the market, she happened to see Mr Canh selling at his sundries stall, so she came to buy something and struck up a conversation. With his kind face, bright eyes and witty way of speaking, he made the person facing him feel truly happy and at ease. Later, the more they met and talked, the more she liked and loved this wounded soldier. From sympathy and sharing, she fell in love with him before she knew it.
And fate itself brought the two together. At first, when Ms Lai confessed her love, Mr Canh firmly refused. More than anyone, he understood that if she married him she would suffer. But after a long time, their love flared up fiercely and they soon moved towards marriage. What made them happiest was that neither family objected to her coming to him. In particular, his wife’s parents loved and trusted their son-in-law very much. Recalling those days, Mr Canh confided: “When my wife’s parents agreed to the wedding, I was so happy I cried. So as not to betray that trust, I have never stopped striving to be a good husband and a dutiful son-in-law. I silently thank them for giving me such a gentle and capable wife”.
Mr and Mrs Canh.
A saviour for people with disabilities
When they first married, with nothing in their hands, they faced many difficulties. Besides farm work, Ms Lai also helped him sell and transport beer. Life was hard, but both of them were determined to try their best.
Once, while delivering beer home late, he met darkness and heavy rain, and his hand-cranked vehicle could not move, so he had to sit in the rain for more than two hours, until someone out fishing by lamplight found him and took him home. “Necessity is the mother of invention”, and from then on he had the bold idea of inventing a three-wheeled motorbike with a reverse gearbox as a more convenient means of transport. And from then on he set about researching this vehicle.
In 2000, he began the work of inventing it, and after five years the three-wheeled motorbike with a reverse gearbox was born. When people saw that the vehicle was truly convenient and useful, friends and some people with disabilities in the town ordered him to make one for them. From then until now, Mr Dinh Van Canh has produced 150 reverse gearboxes for three-wheeled motorbikes for wounded soldiers and people with disabilities in Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Thuong Tin District (Hanoi)… Thanks to this vehicle, many wounded soldiers and people with disabilities have a means of transport and can enrich themselves through their own efforts.
At present, Mr Canh hopes to register the copyright for the reverse gearbox of the three-wheeled motorbike before it is distributed widely across the country. He has also produced 14 wheelchairs, hand-cranked vehicles and three-wheeled electric vehicles of assured quality. In addition, the couple are agents for VIDA beer from the Nghe Tinh brewery, with annual income of over 100 million VND.
He has also created jobs for six people with disabilities as well as local workers, with salaries of 3-5 million VND a month. He has invested in a truck to serve the family’s trading business. “What I have today is the result of very great efforts, first of all from myself. Besides that, I cannot do without the great contribution of my gentle wife, who has accompanied me all this time,” Mr Canh said proudly.
The wounded soldier’s will to live and determination to rise up are always a source of pride for his children. So all four of his children are diligent and do well at school. The eldest, born in 1994, is now a second-year student at Hue University of Medicine. The younger ones are excellent pupils at school every year.
Besides striving to rise up through work, he is also active in social work, regularly visiting and encouraging fellow wounded and sick soldiers, doing good work on policies for people with meritorious service, and encouraging other wounded soldiers to comply well with the law, without harming the reputation and honour of Uncle Ho’s soldiers. He also regularly takes part in cultural programmes organised by the district Veterans’ Association.
“Soon, my husband wants to carry out a project to set up a “Vocational Training Support Association for local people with disabilities, and also a fund for the Association of People with Disabilities”, to help difficult cases when needed. He always thinks that people with disabilities have suffered many disadvantages, and helping them get a trade to earn a living is what is truly needed,” Ms Lai confided.
| Plans for the futureIn 2008, he was honoured to receive a certificate of merit from the Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs as a person with meritorious service to the revolution who had overcome difficulties and risen up to achieve outstanding results in production, study and work. Soon, Mr Canh plans to add an automatic seat to his three-wheeled reverse-gear motorbike. So that when a person with a disability wants to talk or shake hands, they only need to press a button and the seat will automatically raise them to the height of the person opposite. That way, people with disabilities will feel more comfortable and confident. This product is expected to be launched for people with disabilities in early 2014. |
Ha Hang
Doi Song Phap Luat newspaper