After a serious traffic accident, which left him disabled, Nguyen Ngoc Lam, 38, in Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Tan District, has not surrendered to fate.

He is now teaching computing to disadvantaged kids. 

In 2004, when Lam was a freshman at Binh Phuoc Pedagogic College in Binh Phuoc Province, about 130km from Ho Chi Minh City, he was involved in a traffic accident that left two of his neck vertebrae and both of his legs broken.

His spine was also seriously injured. He fell into a deep coma. His injury rate was 97 percent at that time.

“I felt like I was in a vegetative state as I could communicate with everyone through my eyes only,” Lam said.

His family was exhausted because of the cost of medicine and surgeries for him during two years.

“I am young and I have to live,” said Lam.

He then came to the Lucky Village social support center in Binh Tan District to receive physical therapy and learn to become a computing teacher.

In 2015, he started teaching computing to elementary students at the center. 

“On the first days, my students wondered why their teacher was in a wheelchair," Lam recounted.

"But when they heard my story, they understood and respected me more."

Lam got married to Nguyen Thi Minh Tho, 38, after nine years together.

Her family initially did not agree with the marriage, as they were afraid that she would suffer, Tho said.

However, her family respected her decision after they saw Lam and his wife trying to live a good life. 

The couple wish they could have their own child some day. They have tried artificial insemination but the cost is too high for them.

“Nevertheless, we won’t stop hoping,” the couple shared.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!