Farming Again After Landmine Explosion Claims Limb

Duong was born in a small rural village in Vietnam's mountainous Cao Bang Province on the border with China. She grew up with her large family in their small wooden home. Her family lived off of the land that they cultivated, growing rice and vegetables. They had to work hard to survive because the land is steep and the soil is poor.

Everyone in the family started working in the fields at a young age, including Duong. There was no money to send her to school. Besides, she was needed in the fields.

One hot summer day, Duong was working in the fields as she had done so many times before. She used a hoe to break up the hard soil, straining under the backbreaking work. Suddenly, there was a blinding flash and a blast and Duong collapsed to the ground. Her right leg had been badly damaged by a powerful landmine explosion.

Still bleeding, Duong was carried off the hill to the nearest road and put on the next vehicle that happened to come by. She was taken to the district capital with the only trauma hospital in the area. She does not remember much of the journey except for the unbearable pain. At the hospital, she received emergency treatment and her life was saved, but she lost her right leg.

Back at home, the reality of being an amputee in rural remote Vietnam began to sink in. Duong could no longer work in the fields and help earn a living for her family. She now was a burden to her family. Largely confined to her home, she could no longer run and play with her friends. Worse, her situation would never change. She had no prospects for ever getting married. Who would want a disabled person for his wife? She resigned herself to being lonely for the rest of her life.

In 2005, the Prosthetics Outreach Foundation's rural outreach team went to Duong's village. With the team arrived a custom-made prosthetic limb for Duong - complete with a pod foot, ideal for farming - and renewed hope. Now that she is mobile again, Duong is back in the fields, working hard. A smile creeps on her face when asked about her future. "I feel so much more positive now that I have my new limb", she says. "Who knows, I may even find a husband and start a family."