From a Hospital Bed Back to Life: Ms. Nga’s Story

Ms. Lai Thi Minh Nga, born in 1961, lives in Xuan Thien Hamlet, Binh Loc Commune, Long

Khanh City, Dong Nai Province.

In 2019, a stroke — on top of childhood polio and chronic knee osteoarthritis — left Mrs. Nga bedridden for years. She lost all ability to live independently, work, or care for herself, relying entirely on her husband for daily needs, which strained his income and their family finances. Her doctors recorded a simple wish: to go to the market, attend church, and see the outside world again — a goal that felt nearly impossible given her condition.

Mrs. Nga was identified through the Project “Supporting the Improvement of the Quality of Life for People with Disabilities in Provinces Heavily Sprayed with Agent Orange,” implemented by the Vietnam Assistance for the Handicapped (VNAH) together with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and the Dong Nai Department of Health. In November 2025, a home visit by VNAH rehabilitation doctors and technicians set a plan to restore some of her independence and ease her chronic joint pains.

The team began with home exercise coaching, safe mobility training, and a low pediatric wheelchair. As Mrs. Nga’s strength and confidence grew through therapy, the team reassessed her and upgraded her support to an electric mobility scooter along with a shower chair —assistive devices matched to her improving abilities.

After six months of steady progress, Mrs. Nga can now ride her scooter out on her own — to the market, to church, to visit relatives, or simply wherever she wishes to go. She has regained her independence and her sense of self-worth, no longer seeing herself as a burden on her family.

Her health has also stabilized, including her blood pressure and blood sugar, while her husband has been relieved of much of his caregiving load, easing pressure on the family income. As Mrs. Nga describes it, the right assistive device gave her life back — she calls it being “reborn.”