On the morning of the end of April, in a 40-square-meter four-level house in Phu village, Ninh Xa commune, Thuan Thanh district, Nguyen Dong Khai, 8 years old, put his right foot between books and pens and started doing homework like this. everyday.On a wooden counter nearly one meter long, with his left leg bent so that his knee pressed tightly against the notebook to prevent it from moving, with his right leg holding a pen, Khai wrote the first strokes of the poem “Green Bamboo”.At the end of the first stanza, the boy wriggled his two red toes to relieve fatigue. The skin between the fingers has become calloused. Five years ago, my grandfather Nguyen Van My, 70 years old, taught me to write with my feet because I was born without hands.

Dong Khai used his right foot to write at his home in Ninh Xa commune, on the morning of April 19.

Dong Khai is the second child of Mr. Nguyen Van Thinh, 36 years old, and Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong, 29 years old. During her pregnancy, Ms. Phuong regularly had ultrasounds and health checks, but no doctor detected anything unusual. Both families count each day to welcome their grandchild.

When the boy was just born, the doctor announced: I don’t have two arms. Ms. Phuong was dumbfounded. “Remembering the feeling of that day, I’m still in shock, looking at my child’s amputated arm and feeling helpless. What should I do in the future?”, the mother said.

Taking his grandchild home, in the first days Mr. My’s family did not dare go out, fearing the neighbors’ disapproval. “Some people spoke cruelly about how to live and live without arms,” ​​he recalled. Every time I change my child’s clothes to take a bath, or watch Khai use his legs to push himself to crawl like a caterpillar on the bed, Mr. My and his wife shed tears.

“Khai has a defect in his arm, but it’s good to be healthy. The family will take care of him and raise him to be a good person,” he comforted his daughter-in-law. After the period ended, Mr. Thinh and his wife went to work and asked their grandparents to take care of their grandchild.

Knowing that he could not roll over at three months and crawl at seven months like normal children, when Khai became strong, Mr. My taught him how to sit, then jump and walk. The scene of the child taking one step and the grandfather following half a step, his hand supporting the child’s body to prevent her from falling, is not strange to the people of Phu village. “Apart from the lack of arms, the boy is developing normally. At two years old he can speak fluently, feed himself, play with toys and do simple tasks with his feet,” said the next-door neighbor.

When he was three years old, Mr. My tried to get Dong Khai to go to kindergarten, but the teacher was somewhat hesitant, afraid that it would be difficult to take care of him. After a few days of school, Khai came home and asked him: “Why don’t I have arms like my friends? When will my hands grow back? Why do you guys keep calling me an amputee?”. Knowing he couldn’t hide it from his grandchild, Mr. My explained “hands won’t grow back, but legs can be used instead”.

From then on, the 70-year-old man began teaching his grandchild how to write with his feet. Initially, Khai learned how to hold chalk between his thumb and index finger, but his toes were stiff and involuntary, and several dozen boxes of chalk broke due to strong squeezing force. When I got used to holding chalk, Mr. My guided me to practice drawing horizontal and vertical lines in the cement yard in front of the house. After practicing coloring the alphabet, learn to write numbers.

Every time he practices writing, the boy braces himself, arching his back with each letter, sweat flowing down his cheeks. Many times the area where the powder was clamped was swollen and bleeding, and my legs cramped and became numb, unable to move. All night Mr. My sat and massaged the baby to help him sleep. But one time it was too painful, Khai said “I don’t want to write”, he told me about the strength of people in the same situation like teachers Nguyen Ngoc Ky and Hoa Xuan Tu to motivate him.

Proficient in writing large letters, Khai practices writing small letters. Two years later, the chalk and pen no longer bother my feet. Without practicing writing on the field, I got used to the blackboard and notebook. The handwriting is beautiful, neat, neat and straight.

When he was 6 years old, his family planned to enroll Khai in the provincial school for the disabled, but Ninh Xa Primary School decided to still accept him because they knew the “penguin’s” determination. In class, the school built a separate desk and arranged the child to sit at the front desk. Teachers also arranged classrooms on the first floor for ease of movement.

In the early days, teachers were skeptical, afraid that Khai would write with slow feet and not be able to keep up with his classmates. But seeing the student neatly write every word and go home to practice increasing his speed, everyone gradually felt reassured. After a few weeks, I got used to the rhythm of learning, writing faster, and the teacher did not have to wait while dictating. In addition to learning Vietnamese well, the boy also has the talent for quick mental arithmetic and good drawing.

Seeing that Khai had a different appearance, many of his friends teased him and called him “amputee” and “armless boy”. Without responding, she pursed her lips tightly, cried and ran back to tell him. “Let them go. As long as you study well, your friends won’t be able to laugh at you,” Mr. My comforted him.

Mr. Nguyen Van My is helping his grandchild study at home, on the morning of April 19.
Every morning, the 70-year-old man wakes up early, prepares clothes and food, then takes his bicycle to take his grandchild to school and picks him up at noon. At home, his wife takes care of the fields and prepares meals. After dinner, the two of them sat down to review their lessons. Currently, Dong Khai is proficient in using chopsticks and spoons to eat rice, can bathe, change clothes, use a tablet, and control the TV with his feet. Only going to the toilet still requires family support.

Mr. Phung Dinh Thao, head of Phu village, Ninh Xa commune, said Mr. Nguyen Van My’s family was in difficult circumstances. The eldest son and his wife work all day, leaving their three children to be cared for by their parents, including Dong Khai, who is unfortunately disabled.

“Khai has both arms but is very smart, studies well, is obedient, writes well, and is eager to learn. Neighbors and teachers all recognize it. To get the initial results today is a matter of effort, The whole family’s perseverance,” Mr. Thao said.

Many people asked him what he dreamed of doing when he grew up, but Khai just remained silent. “Only once did the boy confess his dream of becoming a doctor to make medicine to grow his hands, take care of himself, and not bother his grandparents and parents,” Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuoi, Khai’s grandmother, confided.

Now, Mr. Thinh and his wife encourage each other to try their best to do business, saving a few million each month for their second son. “The boy studies very well. At every parent-teacher meeting, the teacher praises him. If he has the ability to go to college, even if he has to borrow money, my husband and I do it together. I just hope he grows up and becomes a useful person for society.” association,” Mr. Thinh said.