Disabled Hanoi man builds budget tailored wheelchairs for peers 20 years

A man with disability in Hanoi has been creating customized wheelchairs to sell at affordable prices over the past two decades in the hope of making the experience of using the vehicle more pleasant for people with physical conditions similar to his.

It all comes from an understanding of one’s own difficulty and thoughtfulness, Nguyen Trung, whose legs have suffered from paralysis since he was two, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

“It’s extremely hard to buy a wheelchair in the old days, because it’s very rare and expensive,” the 70-year-old recalled.

“And worse, a wheelchair I was using back then usually had problems and made me really tired because it was very heavy.

“That is why I have always wanted to build wheelchairs that make it easier for me and other users to move.”

Nguyen Trung, in his wheelchair, is pictured in the middle of making a wheelchair at his house in Hanoi. Photo: Hoang Dong / Tuoi Tre

And Trung has excluded all these disadvantages from his wheelchair design.

The made-by-Trung wheelchairs use objects readily offered on the market such as stainless steel tubes and bicycle wheels.

In order to make budget yet durable wheelchairs, he searched the Internet for bicycle parts fetching low prices.

With the first one produced in 1997, he has sold over 300 tailored wheelchairs to multiple physically challenged people, many of whom live a long distance away.

All were made by the man who has been a wheelchair user for nearly 70 years.

Nguyen Trung cleans a bicycle part at his house in Hanoi. Photo: Hoang Dong / Tuoi Tre

Nguyen Trung removes the inner tube of a tire at his house in Hanoi. Photo: Hoang Dong / Tuoi Tre

Trung, who also offers to repair wheelchairs, said he was not afraid of making losses from the business and what counts to him is the ease and convenience with which his peers use his products.

Despite his age, he is usually seen working on wheelchairs all day in his ten-square-meter room, used as a home-based workshop, in the Vietnamese capital’s Kim Lien District.

Nguyen Trung moves out of his home-based workshop in Hanoi. Photo: Hoang Dong / Tuoi Tre

Nguyen Trung finds equipment for a wheelchair using a desktop at his house in Hanoi. Photo: Hoang Dong / Tuoi Tre

Nguyen Trung is seen at his home in Hanoi. Photo: Hoang Dong / Tuoi Tre

Nguyen Trung moves in his wheelchair on a street in Hanoi. Photo: Hoang Dong / Tuoi Tre

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