Learning to Embrace Her Fate
Ms Oanh was born a healthy child in the “land of steel”. She recalled that on the day her mother gave birth to her younger sister, she was lying in a hospital bed, writhing in pain with a fever of 40°C. The polio fever turned the lively little girl into someone who could only crawl and cry in the courtyard. Her family’s life was turned upside down. Her father had to take unpaid leave to take her to seek skilled doctors in different provinces. Years of treatment plunged the family into hardship and poverty.
Once she could walk with crutches, she watched other children riding bicycles past her house and thought, “Maybe I can try that too”. The next day, when the house was empty, she climbed onto a bike and let it roll freely. she crashed quickly, but instead of giving up, she grew more determined. Through persistence and repeated attempts, she finally learned to ride a bicycle like any other child.
Despite her disability, Oanh made full use of her dexterous hands. At 18, she asked her parents for permission to learn to sew. After just over a month, she opened a small tailor's shop at home. Gifted at her craft, she could determine body measurements by sight, without using a tape measure. Her shop quickly became popular. “People started to get to know me better”, she recalled. “Many people with disabilities came to ask me to teach them to sew. I trained several of them to become skilled tailors. Helping others like me overcome self-doubt and passivity gave me strength, too”.
Passion Leads to Triumph
The gold and silver medals displayed proudly in her living room are the result of years of grueling training and competition as a wheelchair athlete. They are a testament to the extraordinary effort of this steel-willed woman.
Ms. Oanh began participating in the Thai Nguyen Disabled Persons’ Club in 2005. In 2017, she was captivated while watching wheelchair tennis on television. She started learning the sport on her own with guidance from friends. The hardest part for a disabled person playing tennis is maneuvering the wheelchair while keeping up with the ball’s bounce, she explained.
Alongside tennis, she took up the increasingly popular sport of pickleball. She and her friends founded the Para Pickleball Steel Club , which currently has six members, most of whom were beginners. At first, they trained and played informally, gradually building skill and passion. We learn as we play, and over time, we’ve fallen in love with the sport, she said. We plan to continue to develop and grow the pickleball community in the future.
Through her passion and her dedication to helping others with disabilities, Ms. Oanh has encouraged many to join the clubs, giving them the confidence to take up the sport. Playing sports is already tiring for a non-disabled person. For para-athletes playing tennis or pickleball, the effort is far greater, she shared.
Many more touching and meaningful stories await viewers of The Station of Love, airing at its familiar time slot: 10:00 AM, Saturday, August 2, on VTV1.
