Over 260 poor people with missing legs in central and southern Vietnam are brimming with hope and can now walk, though unsteadily, on their own limbs after receiving free prostheses in the middle of last year and earlier this month.

A total of 264 needy, disabled people are overjoyed with their new prosthetic legs, which were presented during a program called “Buoc Chan Hanh Phuc” (Happy Steps).

The program was initiated by a volunteer group called “Vi An Va Nhung Nguoi Ban” (Vi An and Friends) in coordination with STO Phuong Dong Hospital, a private infirmary located in District 10, Ho Chi Minh City. 

The group successfully installed 114 free artificial legs and another 150 for poor people in two batches, which were organized in mid-July last year and from January 8 to 11 this year in the city.

Recipients of free artificial legs are pictured beaming with joy. Photo: Tuoi Tre

“Vi An Va Nhung Nguoi Ban” was formed around 2007, after the collapse of the Can Tho Bridge in the Mekong Delta City of Can Tho. The accident killed dozens and injured over 100 more.

Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan quickly arrived at the scene.

Overwhelmed by the grim sight and the suffering of victims and their families, she was set on gathering like-minded philanthropists to help the disadvantaged.

The volunteer technicians are seen discussing a challenging prosthetic leg case. Photo: Tuoi Tre

New legs, fresh hopes

Most recipients of the prosthetic legs feel refreshed with hope for more mobility and a new life.

They range from war invalids and elderly people to young men and women who lost one or both of their legs to the war, road or occupational accidents or illnesses.

One of them is Dang Thi Yen Nhi, a 20-year-old single mother who lives in Dong Nai Province’s Bien Hoa City, some 32 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City.

After her right leg was crushed by a truck in a road accident, the good-looking girl was devastated and faced a grim future.  

One of her friends then recommended her case to “Vi An Va Nhung Nguoi Ban.” Nhi received her prosthetic leg in the January batch.

The young woman practices walking every day with the help of her father and older sister, though each of her awkward steps stings with pain and even causes bleeding.

Nhi said once she can walk better on her artificial leg, she will try to find a job as a worker or learn a craft to provide for her two-year-old daughter and elderly parents.

Helped by her father and elder sister, Dang Thi Yen Nhi (center) persistently practices walking toward her dreams, with her young daughter frolicking around. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Phan Thi The, 56, and her two daughters were also among the prosthetic leg recipients.

The, who resides in the south-central province of Ninh Thuan, and her two daughters all lost their left legs in a road accident last March.

With no money for a prosthetic leg, she would crawl and drag her remaining leg around the house.

A volunteer technician meticulously fixes the joints of the new prosthetic leg of Phan Thi The (middle). Photo: Tuoi Tre

She and her younger daughter, who also ceded one of her arms to the accident, each got one prosthetic leg during the January batch.

Her elder daughter, whose leg is missing up to her groin and pelvis is broken, needs a considerably more sophisticated replacement limb.

A volunteer technician helpfully instructs Phan Thi The (right) to take her first painful steps on her new leg. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The philanthropists

Volunteers with “Vi An Va Nhung Nguoi Ban,” who are mostly office workers and college lecturers, also arranged coaches to transport the poor recipients who live in central or Mekong Delta provinces.

They also set up a team of motorbike drivers to pick up people who were traveling alone at bus stations.

Ut Cop, who lives in An Giang Province in the Mekong Delta, gathered those with missing limbs in the area.

On January 9, a coach carried 10 disabled people from An Giang to Ho Chi Minh City to receive prosthetic legs.

Among them was Nguyen Van Nam, 33, the surviving husband in a tragic accident which took place in An Giang in October last year, which killed his pregnant woman and ejected his unborn son from the womb.

Both Nam and his baby boy lost one of their legs in the accident.

Nguyen Thi Huyen Tran (right), one of the volunteers, offers to help a disabled lottery peddler apply for a prosthetic limb. Photo: Tuoi Tre

According to Dr. Le Duc To, director of STO Phuong Dong Hospital, which is the program’s coordinator, the prosthetic legs in the January batch were produced under modern designs.         “The feet, made from a special flexible substance, allow wearers almost perfect mobility. Some will suffer great pain upon attachment of the legs. Generally speaking, recipients must practice persistently and sustain pain for a while before being able to walk properly,” he added.

Dr. To added while the legs of the first batch were only from the knees down, 50 of the second batch are now as high as one third of the thigh.

He expressed hopes that more demanding techniques in producing artificial legs will be adopted at the hospital to help more seriously disabled people walk with more ease in the future.

Volunteers with a philanthropic group called “Vi An Va Nhung Nguoi Ban” (Vi An and Friends) are dedicated to their work of “reviving” disabled legs. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Mai Dang My Hien (front), a lecturer at an occupational college in Ho Chi Minh City and one of the volunteers, was about to start up her bike to carry a young man home after he had a prosthetic leg attached. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Some prosthetic leg recipients and volunteers pose for a group photo. Photo: Tuoi Tre

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