The love story of Vo Ta Huy and Ngo Thi An, who live in Dong Doai hamlet, Thach Ha commune, Ha Tinh City, is just like a modern fairy tale.
“My legs are paralysed, but my mind is not…”
Vo Ta Huy (born in 1983) is the third of five children in a poor family in Thach Ha commune, Ha Tinh City. Before he was two years old, Huy suffered a life-threatening illness that led to a stroke, leaving his limbs twisted. Throughout his childhood, Huy lived with the self-doubt and inferiority of his disability. Out of love for their son, his parents sold their most valuable possessions to take him for treatment, but in vain. Nguyen Thi Nghia – Huy's mother – said: “Although his legs and left arm are paralysed, Huy is a very clever boy who always longs to go to school. When he started first grade, my husband and I planned to let him quit school because getting there was too hard, but he cried and begged us, saying, 'My legs are paralysed but my mind is not. I will practise so I can go to school by myself.' Hearing him, my husband and I just tried our best to take turns taking him to school.”
The couple with disabilities who rose above fate are admired by everyone
From then on, rain or shine, Huy went to school by himself, completing primary and then lower secondary school. But after finishing grade 9, Huy had to drop out because the road from home to high school was more than 10 km, while his family's circumstances were extremely difficult. His dream then was to earn a living through his own abilities, because he did not want his parents to struggle for him any more. Huy asked his father to buy him a shoeshine kit.
Every day, Huy went around coffee shops and eateries to shine shoes. After nearly six months, luck came his way when he happened to meet Hoang Sy Thu (director of the Ha Tinh vocational training centre for people with disabilities), who took him in to learn IT, and before long he had mastered screen printing.
It was at this centre that Vo Ta Huy met An, and love began to blossom. Ngo Thi An (born in 1981) had no less tragic a fate. She was born and grew up in a farming family, living a life of endless days “with her face to the earth and her back to the sky”. But compared with her peers, An felt truly lucky to have been given a proper education by her parents. As a young woman, she constantly dreamed of the day she would carry her books into a university lecture hall.
With the support of her parents and siblings, An eagerly sat the entrance exam for Vinh University. But despite her best efforts, after two years of study she still failed. Disheartened, An followed a friend from her village to work at the Phu Rieng rubber factory, earning VND 4.5 million a month.
With her fairly good salary, An saved a little money to send home so her parents could enjoy their old age. But fate was truly cruel: while operating a rubber processing machine, An was unfortunately pulled under it, crushing both her legs completely. After more than three months in hospital with many operations, large and small, the doctors did their best but could only save her right leg; her left leg had to be amputated because it had become necrotic.
With a pensive face, An shared: “On the day of the accident, I was so shocked, I thought my life was over. After being brought back home, for more than two years, I cried every night from the pain, the shame and the sense of inferiority about my disability. Sometimes, stepping out of bed, I still thought my legs were intact, and I fell off the bed — it hurt so much!”
An did not dare to go out for fear the neighbours would see her and point and gossip. It was more than three years before An dared to step out onto the street and meet the people around her. Then, not wanting her parents to suffer on her account, An decided to go to Vinh City to learn tailoring so she could earn her own living. Once she had mastered the trade, An returned home and worked for a small tailor's shop.
It was at this tailor's shop that An's life turned a new page. One day, a middle-aged customer came to have clothes made and, seeing An busy sewing, suggested she apply to the Ha Tinh provincial Vocational Training Centre for People with Disabilities. After many nights of thought, An applied and was accepted. In her first days living with friends in similar circumstances, meeting many whose situations were even more difficult, An felt she was still very lucky. From then on, she became confident and tried to rise in life.
A love story with a happy ending
The love between Huy and An came as if destined by heaven. They got to know each other during two years living at the Ha Tinh provincial Vocational Training Centre for People with Disabilities. At first there was only empathy and sharing between them, but Huy's feelings for An grew stronger and stronger. Then one day, Huy confessed his love to An. She could not believe her ears; her feelings were a tangle of happiness and confusion. But Huy's sincere love won her heart.
Out of that sincere love, Huy decided to marry An. Then one day, Huy introduced his girlfriend, but his parents fiercely opposed the match. Not only did they forbid Huy from visiting An's home, they even went to An's house to beg her to give up their son, thinking that if two people with disabilities came together, what would their life be like later — they would only make each other suffer!
An's parents agreed, but Huy's parents opposed the marriage, and no amount of persuasion worked. An and Huy even asked the centre's leaders to persuade Huy's parents, but without success. Determined to defend their love, An and Huy held their wedding at the centre. On the wedding day there was no feast and no relatives from the groom's side, only a sweet party attended by friends, the centre's leaders and, above all, neighbours from the ward who came to share their joy.
Once Huy and An were married, their happiness multiplied when, at the end of 2009, An gave birth to their first child, named Vo Sy Hoang. Then, in 2011, their second child, Vo Hoang Viet Phuong, was born, filling their home with happy laughter.
After the wedding, the couple stayed at the centre to work, and it was not until 2011 that they moved into a new house built with the help of both sets of parents and their siblings in Dong Doai hamlet, Thach Ha commune. After An gave birth to their first son, seeing their chubby, lovely grandchild, Huy's parents went to her parents' home to bring An and the baby back to live with them. Wiping away her tears, An said: “Later on, they loved me very much. To be where I am today, I feel truly happy. Although heaven took one of my legs, it gave me in return a loving and caring husband and two children. To me, this is like a dream!”
The small house at the end of the hamlet is always filled with happy laughter. Every day, An diligently takes in clothes from shops in town to mend, while Huy, with his printing knowledge, takes orders for wedding invitations, packaging and more to earn extra income.
Looking at the limping figures of the couple with disabilities standing side by side, we could only admire them. We know the road ahead is still full of thorns and trials, but we are sure that however difficult it gets, they will be ready to overcome it, because they are full of will and determination…
Ha Hang – http://www.doisongphapluat.com