The "tireless cycling" of Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh has inspired the will and determination to live for many people with disabilities. (Photo: Organizing Committee)
Born in the land of steel, Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh was initially healthy like any other child. But polio when she was young turned her into a child who could only cry in the yard.
"Family life was disrupted. My father had to take unpaid leave to take me to the provinces to find a good doctor. And so, after many years of treatment, the family fell into poverty and misery," Oanh confided.
When her younger sister was old enough to go to school, every time she taught her, her mother would pull Oanh to the table and teach her how to spell and write. By the age of 10, she could read well, write beautifully, and calculate proficiently.
“From the examples of people who love to learn and overcome difficulties in books and newspapers, I thought to myself, why do I have to rely on my parents so much? So I decided to practice moving with my own feet. I tried to hold on to whatever I could and tried to stand up. Every time I fell, I found a way to stand up. Out of love for my child, my mother ran after me to help me up,” Ms. Oanh recalled.
Not only rising up with determination, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh also opened the "door" of integration for people with disabilities to find confidence and positive energy. (Photo: Organizing Committee)
When she was able to walk on crutches, she saw her friends cycling past her house and thought to herself, "Why don't I try cycling too?" The next day, when everyone was away, she risked climbing onto her bike, letting it run freely, and was riding eagerly when suddenly, she and her bike fell over on the road. The harder it was, the more determined she became, trying and making an effort, and finally she was able to ride a bike like her friends.
Ignoring her handicapped legs, she tried to make the most of her skillful hands. At the age of 18, Oanh asked her parents to send her to sewing school. After more than a month, she discussed with her parents about opening a small tailor shop. With her good skills and the ability to calculate measurements just by looking at a person's body shape without a ruler, her shop became increasingly crowded with customers.
Many disabled people also come to her to learn sewing. And she has taught many disabled people to master sewing. That help partly helps disabled people overcome their self-consciousness, thoughts of resignation, and giving up.
Ms. Oanh started participating in the activities of the Thai Nguyen Disabled People's Club in 2005. In 2017, while watching disabled people playing tennis on TV, she felt very interested. She tried it herself and asked someone to guide her to practice. She shared: The difficulty for a disabled person playing tennis is moving the wheelchair according to the bounce point of the ball.
The story of Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh is a journey of extraordinary efforts of a female "warrior" of the land of steel. (Photo: Organizing Committee)
In 2019, she started participating in competitions. In early 2023, she and other members participated in building the Thai Nguyen Disabled Sports Club. The club has 22 members, operating on the principles of voluntariness, self-management, solidarity, and unity; maintaining and organizing physical education and sports activities, creating a useful playground, helping members have the opportunity to exchange, learn, improve their health, together eliminate inferiority complexes, gain confidence, and strive to integrate into the community.
Not only participating in tennis, with the Pickleball wave spreading, she and her friends also founded the Gang Thep Para Pickleball Club with 6 members, most of whom are new to this sport. She said that in the future, she will try harder to build and develop the Pickleball community.
The gold and silver medals and cups placed solemnly on the cabinet in the living room are the results of the days of competition and training with "sweat and tears" of an athlete sitting in a wheelchair, proving the extraordinary efforts of the female "warrior".
TRANG ANH
Source: https://nhandan.vn/chien-binh-ngoi-xe-lan-truyen-cam-hung-post897923.html
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