Trinh Cong Luan does not take things lying down.

His disability did not even prevent him from helping his parents lighten the burden of poverty when he was very young. Moving around on his hands, he would still go out with his friends to catch fish, crabs and shrimps every day.

It was certainly much more difficult for Luan than other kids to move around the bushes or across the fields. However, he was very fast and skillful with his hands, so he managed to catch as many fish as his friends.

Luan’s strong will made his parents feel very relieved, but their young boy was not going to be content with mere survival. Everything he did, he wanted to do well.

Early passion

Luan took to sports at a very young age. He always wanted to play football with his friends. At first, they didn’t want it, but Luan asked to play as a goalkeeper. From then on, they asked him to play football every day.

Luan, was serious about getting a good education. As a disabled person, he knew only this would help him earn a living, so he studied hard.

After finishing high school, he came to Ho Chi Minh City to study graphic design at the Open University, and landed a job with the layout section of a newspaper.

Luan’s job did not dull his passion for sports. He began practicing at the Tan Binh Sports Cente, focusing at first on the 10km wheelchair race.

For a disabled person, any sport is very hard work, but Luan’s passion was larger. Soon, he was practicing shot put, discus and javelin.

Now, he stands out among the nation’s athletes as the only disabled pentathlon specialist, competing in the 200m and 1,500m wheelchair races, javelin, shot put and discus.

His contributions to Vietnamese sports were recognized by the government with a Labor Order Third last year.

Dang Van Phuc, who trains disabled athletes in the city, says, “I admire Luan for his strong will because he has practiced the five games together so that Vietnam could get medals in the category on the international stage.

“It means he has to quit his job with a pretty high income and concentrate all his efforts on sports.”

Future plans

Disabled athletes are particularly at a disadvantage because they do not get salaries or other financial support.

Asked why he dared to give up his job if it would make his life even more difficult, Luan says, “I am strongly passionate about sports so I just quit. I wouldn’t be able to achieve success in sports if I still worked.

“I have some financial difficulties now, but I believe I will get cash prizes from international competitions to pay for my expenses. That’s why I train hard to get good results.”

Training in sports and competing for nearly 17 years, Luan has saved enough to buy a small piece of land in HCMC’s Tan Phu District.

He plans to achieve great success at the coming SEA Paragames so that he will have money to build a house on the piece of land.

Luan has a girlfriend who owns a hairdressing salon in Tan Binh District.

They plan to get married after the Southeast Asian Paragames later this year.

Reported by Tay Nguyen – Thanh Thang