Though they were originally copies of an American model, Vietnam’s first wheelchairs and the man who made them have helped change the lives of many in this country.
Twenty years ago, a decade after the country emerged from a war in which thousands of veterans lost their legs, an engineer who was running a metal waste processing plant had an inspiration.
Nguyen Tien Toan, a native of Phu Yen, recalls, “As I traveled through-out the country to buy metal waste, I saw many people trudging around with heavy wooden legs.”
At that time, people were finding it hard just to feed themselves, let alone buy expensive imported wheelchairs.
“So, it occurred to me to make wheelchairs using the metal waste I was working with,” he says.
He had been manufacturing a range of metal items from ploughs to bike parts.
For many days, he studied the design of an old American wheel-chair and tried to find ways to modify it so that he could make it with the materials available in Vietnam.
He succeeded after a long struggle and named his first wheelchair Kien Tuong.
Soon, the Military Medicine Bureau heard of his success and ordered 200 of his wheelchairs.
“This was the happiest period of my life,” Toan, who will soon turn 63, said.
After working at full steam, his factory made the delivery in December 1987.
“It was on the People’s Army Day that I handed over the 200 wheel-chairs. I don’t know how to describe what I felt then,” he says.
Since then, his plant has been devoted to manufacturing wheel-chairs, and his business has become very successful.
In 2005, he made and sold 60,000 pieces.
“From what I know, the number of people with disability in Vietnam is around six million, and 700,000 need wheelchairs,” Toan says.
“So, given that I’m one of only two wheelchair manufacturers, it will take us 10 to 15 years to meet the demand.”
But the man known as the “father of Vietnamese wheelchairs” is also thinking about exports and working on a model.
Its price, he says, will be around US$150, considerably higher than his local rate of $60.
“One of these days, disabled people in countries like Laos, Cambodia, Iran and Iraq will use my wheelchairs,” Toan says.
His operations have always been internationally-oriented.
He has led many delegations to international special games for athletes with disabilities.
During most of those foreign trips, he visits wheelchair factories to “learn from them.”
“I have to learn from them to improve on our wheelchairs so that they will be better-looking, lighter, and more comfortable and durable.”
Reported by Truong Nhu Ba