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Survivor Stories
 Hoang Xuan Quang - Vietnam
Mr. Hoang Xuan Quang is a security guard for the LSN-Vietnam office. He lives in Soi hamlet, Van Trach Village, Bo Trach District, Quang Binh Province.
On a summer night during the war, a bomb exploded near he and his friend. Quang’s legs and his friend's chest were wounded. After the explosion, he heard his friend call out for him. He awoke suddenly, and at first thought he was intact. He crawled to his friend and held him. In his last breath, his friend asked him to take care of his mother. With no time to think, Quang replied: “I promise you I will help you look after your mother, but do not worry, you won't die.”
Quang forgot his pain and carried his friend on his back out of the mine hole. He did not know when his friend actually died. His friend's blood stained his body. He then realized that his injured leg would have to be cut off.
Thirteen months later, his wound had healed and he used a prosthesis, practicing walking in a concentration camp. He worried about his promise to look after his friends’ mother. He decided to go back home when he was 26 years old.
Quang’s village, Van Trach, is a dry, rocky land. In his simple thatched cottage, he was very happy when his friend's mother lived with him and his mother. He had two mothers over age 60! This was a very demanding responsibility for a person with limb loss. He spent many nights worrying about how to care for his little family. Thanks to a neighbour's help, he borrowed money in order to raise fish and grow melons.
He met Miss Lai, who worked in Village Youth Union, who feel in love with him and she volunteered to live with him, to look after two old mothers. Quang used to take a torch to go work at nights, to watch over his melon garden and fishpond. His hard work paid off after three years, and he now has a solid house with a tiled roof.
Quang and Lai have five children (three sons and two daughters). Though he has little free time, he still participates in the Red Cross Association. He is engrossed in working and encourages his neighbours to build a new way of living, manufacturing and animal raising, to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty.
At one point, Lai’s health became very delicate after the stress of having five children and taking care of the two mothers. Quang’s mother died, and his adoptive mother's legs are paralysed. He and his wife were in great pain because they missed his mother, and for a while his health wasn’t good, so he couldn't grow melons and raise fish as he did before.
During these difficult circumstances, LSN recruited him. He is always a truthful and straightforward employee, doing his job with whole- hearted enthusiasm. After work, he returns home by motorcycle and takes care of his adoptive mother. Now that he has a job, he says his heart is happier, and he has more energy. He also plays his guitar, re-plants his garden, applies new technology, raises fish and grows melons.
The story about survivor Hoang Xuan Quang makes many people feel moved with his kind heart, and as a good model for other survivors to follow.
View the next profile: Ha Van Tien
Less than 10 percent of landmine survivors have access to proper medical care and rehabilitation. Please visit our Donate Now section and see what you can do to help landmine survivors around the world.
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