I can go anywhere on my own legs
Born in 1952, Thuong's childhood and adolescence were marked by the devastation of wars. There was no loss that he did not experience, no sorrow that he did not witness first-hand. He spent many years on the war front, where he had seen men like him shed blood and lose their lives. In 1978, Thuong retired his army uniform and settled in a quiet village in Van Ban District, Lao Cai City. Together with his wife, they built a small stilt house deep in the village, on top of a tall hill. They had five children and, for years, Thuong worked to cultivate his land, gather timber, raise animals, and earn the money to sustain his family. In December 1998, Thuong and his friends ventured into the forest to gather wood for a new roof. They placed the logs on top of one another, tied them together, and instructed Thuong's trusty ox to pull the timber back to the village, while he followed closely behind. As they moved up the hills, the logs became unbalanced and began to fall off. Thuong hastened his steps, adjusted them, and waited for his ox to continue pulling. Suddenly, the rope which held the logs together unraveled and the logs fell and started rolling downhill toward Thuong. Without any other option, he tried to run out of their path. Fortunately for Thuong, he tripped and fell into a shallow gully, a mishap that saved his life when the trees rolled past. Unfortunately, it happened so quickly that he did not have time to adjust his position and his leg, which was stuck on top, was crushed by the weight of the wood. Although Thuong remained conscious, he was bleeding quite heavily. His friends gathered forest vines to tie around the wound, hoping to stop the flow of blood. Thuong was rushed to Van Ban Hospital, where he then fell unconscious from the pain and blood loss. When he woke up five days later, he found himself in Yen Bai Hospital and underwent a further shock: the doctors informed him that he had undergone amputation surgery; his right leg had been amputated above the knee. Thuong was bewildered; he did not know what to do. His family was not well off, and his children were still young-his youngest daughter was barely a month old at the time of the accident. There was no money to cover the hospital expenses and his future, as well as the future of his family, seemed grim. "What will happen once I get home?" he often asked himself. "I will be disabled for the rest of my life. How can I care for my family in this state?" Thuong exclaimed. When he was released from the hospital, his family was still struggling to pay for the expenses from his surgery. Knowing his situation, many of his fellow villagers began to help tend his field, and his children started to take on some of their father's chores. He was struck by their efforts, but he also wanted to be able to work again. On December 12th, 2004, Thuong received his first prosthesis from the Prosthetics Outreach Foundation. With his own custom-fitted limb, he could walk without the jabbing pain which used to accompany his every step. He could now go the field daily to tend his crops and, when he stayed home, he could easily walk down the steps of their stilt house to feed the animals. "I can go anywhere on my own legs and it's a wonderful feeling," Thuong shared, adding, "Without this leg, I wouldn't be able to do anything for my family."
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He asked around the village for soldiers who received prosthetic limbs after the war and asked to borrow one of their old prostheses. He went home and tried to teach himself to walk again. He put up two bamboo sticks to help guide his steps and took each one with deliberate hesitation. Every step he took sent shooting pain up and down his spine, for the prosthesis was fitted for someone of a much smaller size. He wanted to give up, but the thought of his family kept him going, and for two months he practiced walking despite the pain.