Despite his battle with cerebral palsy, a 15-year-old Vietnamese boy from Da Nang has big dreams of becoming a video blogger to introduce travel destinations to disabled people around the world.

Nguyen Minh Chau’s cerebral palsy has caused him several permanent movement disorders, including complete paralysis in his legs and extreme difficulty moving his arms.

However, rather than letting his disorder control his life, Chau is pushing steadily towards his dream: making videos to promote handicapped-friendly travel destinations, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Inspired by family

Even though cerebral palsy primarily affects body movement, Chau seems to be constantly on the go – whether it’s his daily journey to school or the road trips he takes with his family several times a year.

For each trip, Chau’s parents rent a seven-seater car and visit provinces located between the central city of Da Nang, where the family lives, and his parents’ hometown in the south-central province of Phu Yen.

When he isn’t on the road, Chau fills his time reading books, playing the organ, drawing, studying English and IT, and spending hours each day teaching himself how to make videos to show on the internet.

Chau finished ninth grade earlier this year at Le Do Junior High School and will start tenth grade at Hong Hoa Tham High School in Son Tra District, Da Nang, after the summer.

One of his biggest hobbies is watching inspiring videos of social workers who motivate him to push towards his goals.

 “I want to do things that benefit the [handicapped] community and I hope that others support me because they find it helpful, not because of pity,” Chau told Vietnam News Agency.

But Chau’s dreams of helping others aren’t a new thing. 

When he was in fifth grade, he held a charity show named Dance of the Sun which saw the participation of over 100 student volunteers and 40 disabled people.

 ‘One day I will be able to walk’

At 15 years old, the courageous young man has been through more than 30 treatments at various medical facilities in Vietnam and abroad.

“I believe that one day I will be able to walk and move like able-bodied people,” Chau said.

However, at the moment Chau still needs a lot of help from his parents who help him get ready for school in the morning and ride their motorbikes alongside his electric wheelchair as me makes his way from home to class.

In 2016, Chau’s family moved from Quy Nhon, a coastal city in Binh Dinh Province, to Da Nang so that he’d have access to a wider range of facilities geared towards handicapped people. 

“Even now, people haven’t found a cure for cerebral palsy, but people will never stop being surprised by how much a cerebral palsy patient can do,” Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, Chau’s mother, said.

Lan also advised other parents of the children with special needs to stay grounded in reality and be willing to face the pressures of caring for a disabled child.

“I want to advise other families to never give up because we can overcome all of those difficulties as long as we are understanding and do our best in life,” Lan said.

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