Mr. Minh Khương Lưu, 28 years old, was walking through Hòa Bình Park in Hanoi when he happened to meet Lê Thu Thi Nguyen and Ngoc Bao Doan along with their son, Minh Tri Doan. After seeing the happy family together, Khương captured a few photos.
Khương told The Epoch Times, “The happy gaze and warm gestures between them urged me to capture that moment and give them the photos as a small surprise.”
After listening to the story of the hardships they had faced in life, their wonderful love story, how they met, and raised their young son, Khương expressed his admiration for how they overcame all difficulties and their positive attitude that radiated from them.
“I felt compelled to share their story with the younger generation, so I posted their story on my page,” he added.
After the photos were posted, comments started pouring in, with people showing sympathy for the young family. Currently, their photos and videos have reached 30 million views on both TikTok and Facebook (an organization banned in Russia).
Thu, 28 years old, originally from Bắc Giang, works as an accountant for an education company in Hanoi. At the age of 10, she experienced an accident that changed her life forever. While carrying her 7-month-old sister in her arms, the baby was hit by a motorcycle, resulting in a severe injury and the loss of her right leg.
Meanwhile, Bao, 29 years old, currently works as a freelance video editor and suffers from a rare condition called elephant foot syndrome, which led to the amputation of his left leg. While Bảo uses a prosthetic leg, Thu gets around using a wheelchair attached to her forearm. Despite both having grown up without one leg, Thư stated that they are very independent and never allow themselves to feel weak or pessimistic.
The unique circumstances brought this couple together. Coming from Ứng Hòa district, Hanoi, Bảo caught Thư’s attention with his strong and masculine appearance. Thư mentioned that she happened to see Bảo’s pictures on Facebook while he was participating in a marathon.
Browsing through Bảo’s Facebook profile, Thư discovered more photos of him engaging in sports such as swimming, mountain climbing, and running. She was also impressed to see him ice skate using only one leg. He clearly didn’t let his obvious disability affect him.
“I was attracted by his smile and positive attitude, and I decided to take a step forward,” she recalled. “He accepted my friend request, and we started talking a bit.”
The couple then started dating but missed each other several times. Finally, when they met again, a spark ignited between them, and they realized they wanted to get to know each other better. Several months later, on March 12, 2020, the couple got married in the presence of their family members and friends.
Not long after, the couple joyfully discovered that their son, Minh Trí Đoàn, was on the way. However, Thư’s pregnancy was not without its difficulties. Close to her due date, she experienced severe abdominal pain, fearing premature birth. Thu said, “I was in a lot of pain and couldn’t move. My husband, who also has a disability, couldn’t lift me either. He worried and had to ask our neighbors for help. Fortunately, we all made it safely.”
On November 17, 2020, their healthy son was born. Despite the happiness of having a healthy child, as the new restrictions were imposed, the young couple still had to face challenging circumstances.
“We lost our jobs and had no income,” Thu said. “It was a difficult time for both of us,
