A severe electrical accident cost Nguyen Nhu Dat, 41, from Ung Hoa, Hanoi, both arms and one leg, plunging him into despair.

He thought his life was over until he met a woman six years younger, who helped him begin a journey of love and healing. Her sincere affection lifted him up and gave him the confidence to call himself “Dat day du” (full Dat) despite having only one leg.

Dark months

Dat originally had a peaceful life as a hired driver, already married. But the accident in 2010 took everything away.

"That day, I went to work with my wife, carrying soil to Van Phu, Ha Dong. I climbed on the truck to fold the tarp when a 550kv wire nearly 20m away discharged. The current knocked me out, I knew nothing more", he recounted.

The horrific accident left him in deep coma for 3 months. Waking up, he saw his body empty, 2 arms and 1 leg amputated, still wrapped in bandages. Cruel reality shocked him heavily.

The next 3 months, he was still too weak to sit up. Every bandage change or injection caused heart-piercing pain. But physical pain could not compare to mental pain. He fell into limbo, not knowing how to live with only 1 leg.

"I lost limbs and also lost my wife. A week after I was discharged from the hospital, she said she was going to a friend’s wedding and never came back,” Dat said bitterly.

Dat fell into crisis. At just 26, he had to depend on his parents for every need, eating, bathing, even moving.

“I cried a lot and felt my life was over. One day, I tried to end it all, but my parents found me in time. I had to get ten stitches on my head that day. My mother hugged me tightly and cried, saying, ‘If you die, I can’t live.’

“Because of my parents, I chose to live on,” he recalled.

He spent those years quietly in his small house, surrounded by nothing but gray days and hopeless thoughts.

Light at the end of the tunnel

In 2011, a high school friend introduced him to Tran Le Hien Thuong, a woman from the same hometown, six years younger. They got married after just 29 days, ignoring family objections and social gossip.

Those 29 days changed his life. Thuong often visited him, helped cook and wash clothes, and offered heartfelt encouragement, giving him a glimpse of hope.

Finally, he asked her to marry him, and she agreed. Before the wedding, her father told her, “Parents give birth to a child, but heaven gives him characters. You’ve made your choice, so take responsibility for your life.”

He once asked her, “Why did you decide to marry a disabled man?” She simply replied, “Because I care.”

“To me, she is the greatest gift that  life has ever given me,” Dat said.

Dat came to Thuong when his body not yet recovered, and heart full of inferiority. But her love and patience gradually healed everything.

Thanks to her, he confidently practiced walking on prosthetic legs, every fall she was beside to support. He also practiced using phone with toe and right arm stump to expand knowledge, find suitable new jobs. Other personal matters, he asked wife for help.

“She’s been through so much but never complains. True to her name (Thuong), she loves deeply,” he said.

In 2011, their first daughter was born. Life was tough: they had to ask for every donated diaper and old clothes for the baby. Seeing his wife struggle, Dat tried his best to help. Many nights, he held the baby between his legs and leaned against the wall to lull the baby to sleep.

“Later, we were blessed with another son and daughter. Our eldest is now 14, and the youngest is 10. We went through countless hardships, but we made it through together,” Dat shared.

To raise the children, the couple did all kinds of jobs: selling vegetables at the market, trading knives. The children grew day by day, gradually helping with housework and assisting their father greatly in daily activities.

"I lack a leg and arms, but I have a kind wife, obedient children, and a life full of love. With just that, I feel life has compensated me," Dat happily said.

Nguyen Hanh