After falling from a scaffold and becoming paralyzed, Mr. Thai Duy Duc experienced a long period of depression. However, his passion for making driftwood has helped him “revive” and made many people admire him.
Sitting in a wheelchair, still carrying wood and sawing trees
At 9 a.m. every day, Mr. Thai Duy Duc (32 years old, living in Lam Dong province) pushes his wheelchair to the workshop and begins a day of making driftwood. If you didn’t witness it with your own eyes, few would have guessed that while sitting in a wheelchair, Mr. Duc could use one hand to lift a log weighing nearly 20kg.
In the early days of his career, when his hands were not strong enough, he had to place the log on the ground and bend down to work. Every few minutes, Duc had to look up due to dizziness. However, because he wanted to find a livelihood for his family and could not forever depend on others, he still gritted his teeth and endured.
In 2018, from a piece of “dried firewood” given to him by a friend, Mr. Duc practiced making and trading driftwood. “3 years after the accident, I had a serious thought about my career, so I had to try to pursue it to the end,” Mr. Duc said.
At that time, many people thought that driftwood manufacturing was not suitable for Germany. Because the job requires good physical strength because you often have to carry, saw… large logs of wood and have to work in an environment with a lot of toxic wood dust. For a normal person, this is already a difficult job, let alone someone with a disability.
His family and neighbors all advised Mr. Duc to calm down, help his family take care of the cows and not torture himself with senseless pieces of wood. Every time he hears that, he can only laugh and find ways to overcome it.
Realizing that his spinal cord injury did not allow him to bend over for long periods of time, he immediately built a table that was within reach of his wheelchair so he could sit upright and “compose” right there.
Every day he exercises to strengthen his hands to get used to holding heavy objects. Thanks to that, he can carry each piece of wood himself and hold the saw more firmly, ensuring safety during the crafting process.
“There are some types of driftwood that I just need to clean and keep the original shape. But there are some pieces that I have to use a saw to cut and join with specialized glue to create the desired shape,” he shared about his daily work.
In the first year, Mr. Duc specialized in making natural driftwood for display, combining it with orchids, etc. In recent years, he noticed that the movement of using driftwood in aquariums increased sharply, so he changed direction. The favorable work and increasingly large number of customers have helped him earn 20-30 million VND per month.
Many people offered him a large number, but he refused. He shared that driftwood craftsmen are like artists, their work depends a lot on emotions. He wants each of his products to have its own artistic value. Furthermore, he knew his health could not handle it.
On his personal page, he does not “label” people with disabilities or wheelchairs to call for sympathy to sell products. The 9X owner believes that if he tries to make good, aesthetic products, customers will trust and support him.
The energy after a few times wanting to… end
Currently, Mr. Duc lives positively, always trying to overcome all barriers, but few people know how much pain he himself has experienced. Originally a normal, healthy person, but after an accident he lost his legs forever.
In 2015, a fall from a construction scaffolding caused Mr. Duc’s life to be confined to a wheelchair. The spinal cord injury caused him to lose feeling from his abdomen to his legs and lose control of his hygiene.
“There were days when I felt so useless, just sitting in a wheelchair, then lying on the bed, unable to even urinate on my own,” Mr. Duc said about the reason why he sometimes went on hunger strike to “” end”.
It took him nearly 2 years to get rid of that “shock”. It is the love for the girl Bui Thi Chinh (30 years old) that has helped the disabled man love life more and overcome the pain that “pierces to the bone”.
When he first got married, the couple helped his mother take care of the dairy farm. Simple life goes by every day in the small house. But in 2018, he turned to starting a business from driftwood, becoming a wheelchair-based boss.
“The work of making driftwood has helped me forget all the pain, I can even take care of my family, and be a true breadwinner. I feel the “gap” is narrowed and no longer exist. I also feel guilty about being disabled,” Mr. Duc said.
Not only that, overcoming many difficulties, Mr. Duc and his wife, Ms. Chinh, have just welcomed their little princess after 3 rounds of IVF. It can be said that since he had a wife and children and a job, his life seemed to become more meaningful every day.
Mr. Duc confided that the accident in 2015 changed his life. However, if there were no incidents, he would still just be a hired worker, a demanding young man, falling into evils. He never thought he would be a boss, know how to love, know how to share, know how to work hard every day and be responsible for life and family like he is now.
($1=24,000 VND)
Photo,Video: Internet (Vinlove.net)