“Breaking Barriers: The Success Story of a One-Legged Vietnamese Entrepreneur”Sn

A woman from northern Vietnam’s mountainous region is proving that success is always achievable, regardless of the hardships life throws at a person.

When Be Thi Bang had to have a leg amputated at the age of 24, she realized she was at a crossroads.

Would she allow her disability to hold her back from her dreams or would she refuse to let it stand in the way of living her life?

Now, just eight years after losing her leg, 32-year-old Bang is the co-founder of a private dental clinic and the owner of several homestays in Hanoi.

A graduate of the Thai Nguyen University of Medicine in the namesake province, Bang spent her first few years after graduation working at a dental clinic in Hanoi.

Just a few years into her career, however, her life was derailed when she was struck by a tractor trailer on her way home from a friend’s house and had to have her leg amputated.

“I cried my eyes out,” Bang recalled.

“It wasn’t just the pain that hurt me, it was also knowing that I was disabled.”

But Bang refused to let her disability get in the way of realizing her dreams and soon began involving herself in activities that forced her to face her situation head-on.

 Her first step was purchasing a pair of crutches and learning how to walk on her own, despite the countless bruises and scratches she accrued from falling hundreds of times.

Yet Bang refused to give up and, in just one month, was able to walk on her own.

“The desire to walk again really motivated me to keep moving forward,” she said with pride.

Bang returned to her hometown ten months after the accident and, by chance, found an interest in dancing.

She started with basic moves wearing flats before working her way up to more complicated styles while donning a high heel on her leg.

Even so, she kept most of her practice a secret due to fears of public criticism for her disability.

In addition to dance, Bang also took up sports courses at a local club and participated in a beauty pageant for the disabled called “Ve Dep Vang Trang Khuyet” (The Complete Beauty of The Incomplete), in which she won the championship title.

After the accident, Bang had given up on the hope of finding true love until she met a German named Oturak Be.

The two began as pen pals until they married in 2017.

“Everyone deserves true love, and so do I,” she smiled with happiness.