Injury Date: March 14, 2003

Injuries: Both hands amputated; critical fragment injuries over entire body.

CPI Assistance: Emergency medical treatment; amputation surgery; ongoing physical therapy and rehabilitation.

Planting and cultivating rice is the livelihood for the majority of the residents in Tay Gia village, located in a rural area of Quang Nam province. Nguyen Muoi lives with his family in Tay Gia. His 85-year old mother, Duong Thi Dien, and his wife, Le Thi Thu, help Duong to care for the two children, ages 12 and 2. The house they currently live in was built eight years ago when Muoi’s father was still alive. Shortly after the house was built, his father passed away.

The family owns two 'sao' of land (1000m2) that they use for growing rice. The annual yield from the crop is not enough for the family to live off of. Duong and his wife put their heads together to come up with a solution. They decided it would be good for Muoi to stay in the village to work on the farm and look after the children and his mother. Muoi’s wife would leave the village and head south to Ho Chi Minh City to find a seasonal job, as employment is easier to come by in the larger cities.

The couple parted, and Duong’s wife left for Ho Chi Minh City. Muoi stayed home and dedicated himself to the farm and his remaining family members. He was a strong and hard working farmer; he had no trouble taking care of the two sao of land he owned. In fact, he often did extra work for other people, to keep himself busy and to earn some additional income. The morning of March 14th, 2003, he left home early and rode his bicycle to a neighboring commune. Someone there had hired him to prepare a plot of land for growing watermelon. The land had been tilled recently but he still had a lot of weeding to do. He worked for a couple hours in the morning sun, and as the time approached 11:00am, he realized just how hungry he was. He told himself that he would work for 10 more minutes and then take a nice long lunch break.

As he threw the blade of his hoe down in front of him to break up a large clump of dirt, he felt the reverberations of something solid.

Muoi didn’t hear a sound but was blinded by the bright flash of light in front of him as the object exploded. The blast wave pushed his body backwards and he fell to the dirt in agony.

The explosion had shattered every bone in both of his hands. His body was covered in fragments, both large and small. Miraculously, he was not killed by the blast.

The news of her husband’s tragic accident reached Muoi’s wife in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in very little time. She made her way north to Da Nang General Hospital (approximately 1000km of HCMC) as fast as she could. Duong had been transferred there for further treatment. He spent the next three months at the hospital, going through several surgeries and many follow-up treatments. During one of the first surgeries, his surgeons were forced to amputate both of his hands. On June 16th, 2003, Muoi was referred to Da Nang Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Center (DNORC) for rehabilitation. According to the doctors at DNORC, Duong will need a couple more months before he can walk by himself with a crutch.

Muoi’s wife learned of CPI’s victim assistance program when she had nearly lost all hope. The extensive treatment for her husband had cost the family over 15,000,000 VND ($1,000 USD) and had put them into a nearly unrecoverable debt. CPI reimbursed the family with nearly $1,000 USD, enabling them to move forward with their lives in spite of the accident.