A serious accident when he was just five months old
Le Viet Thuan (born in 1991, from Hiep Hoa district, Bac Giang) is the second child in a poor family; his father is a brick maker and his mother is a garment worker. When he had just turned five months old, on one occasion when his parents laid him on the bed, baby Thuan accidentally kicked an oil lamp, the fire spread and caught his body, leaving him very badly burned on his left leg.
Through his efforts to overcome difficulties, the pupil Le Viet Thuan has now realised his dream of continuing his studies at university.
Because of a backward belief that going to hospital would bring bad luck, Thuan's grandparents asked many traditional healers in the village to come and treat him, and unfortunately this led to his leg becoming deformed. That was not all: while his burn was being treated, Thuan contracted a tetanus infection and was given vaccine injections by nurses at the commune health station for a month and a half in a row. This greatly affected his tendons, with the result that Thuan's leg and arm became contracted.
Although his family then took him for examination at the National Burns Institute, the doctors told Thuan that he would no longer be able to walk. From then on, for nine consecutive years, Thuan could only lie in one place.
In 1998, although the family's circumstances were extremely difficult, with their main work being making rice crackers, Thuan's parents still decided to take their son once more to the National Burns Institute for surgery. At that time, the hospital offered two options: one was to amputate the burned leg and fit a prosthetic leg, and the other was to break the deformed bones and rejoin them, and Thuan's family decided to go with the second option.
After the operation, the doctors said Thuan had a 70% chance of being able to walk, with the remaining 30% depending on his training and perseverance.
Returning home, Thuan's days after that were spent determinedly training to have a chance to walk. Speaking of that process, Thuan said: “At that time, my grandfather made me a bamboo frame with two supports (each one metre long) for me to practise walking with. Many times, because I practised so hard, the surgical wound became swollen and I felt great pain, and it was not until I was 10 that I could walk, though every step was very difficult.”
Learning to write with his left hand, still passionate about words
Despite his weak health and great difficulty walking, Thuan still firmly demanded that his parents let him go to school like his friends. Indulging their son, Thuan's parents agreed, but they only hoped that he would go to school to learn to read and write.
Although he was not admitted officially, but only as an auditing pupil with classmates born in 1995 (four years younger than Thuan), he was delighted to carry a schoolbag to school. Studying in grade 1 was the hardest time, because Thuan had not been through kindergarten and, because his right hand was completely contracted, he had to learn to write with his left hand.
With his own efforts and the encouragement and help of his family and teachers, Thuan completed his schooling. Continuing his passion for learning, in the recent university entrance exam, Thuan was admitted to two universities: the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) and the National Academy of Education Management.
For the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Thuan did not have to sit the exam, but with his excellent test results and his academic record over the years, he was admitted to the Social Work programme. At the National Academy of Education Management, Thuan sat the Group A exam, scored 16 points and was admitted to the Information Technology faculty.
The resilient new student, Le Viet Thuan.
Having decided to study Social Work at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) for the chance to get closer to people in circumstances like his own, on 5 September Thuan was taken by his older brother to enrol at the university. At present, with his family's circumstances extremely difficult, Thuan's life faces many obstacles.
It is understood that Thuan's parents now work as factory workers in the south, and each month they can only send him about 1 million VND. With that small amount, to have enough to cover his living expenses, Thuan only dares to eat meals costing 10,000 to 15,000 VND, and for many meals he only eats a packet of instant noodles.
At present, Thuan rents a small room 200 m from the university. Faced with his difficult circumstances, the kind landlord has reduced the rent from 1.5 million VND a month to 350,000 VND.
Now, besides going to class every day like other new students, Thuan also takes part in the activities of the Hoa Da Club, which specialises in helping students with disabilities and students in difficult circumstances.