He had come for his preparatory year at Hanbat University.

For the past few weeks Nhut has been using the stump of his right arm, amputated at the elbow to hold a pen and practice his Korean writing skills in a small room on the outskirts of Seoul as he works on his master’s degree application essay.

“Before coming to South Korea, I failed the TOPIK 4 [Korean language proficiency test for foreigners] four times,” the 27-year-old from Can Tho City in the Mekong Delta wrote in his essay. “To live like a normal person, I had to learn to accept my physical limitations.”

Nhut grew up in a poor family with many siblings and dropped out of school at 15 to work as a welder. In 2014, while working on a construction site, he accidentally touched a high-voltage wire, causing a powerful shock that sent him tumbling off the roof, unconscious.

At Cho Ray Hospital in HCMC, doctors informed him that his left arm would need to be amputated. Two months later his right arm became necrotic and had to be removed too.

“I thought my life was over,” Nhut recalls.

The image of his father crying against the wall and his mother’s hair turning half gray kept him going after the accident. At 16 Nhut had to relearn basic tasks like holding a spoon, changing clothes, and brushing his teeth with his amputated arms.

When his wounds healed he began searching for work, but was turned away wherever he went.

“I knew I had to take a new path,” Nhut says. “And education was the only way.”

He enrolled in a continuing education center. On the first day he did not dare make eye contact with anyone and went straight to his desk, embarrassed by his missing arms. His self-esteem dropped further when he realized his mind was blank, and his teacher had to explain lessons three or four times before he understood.

But he did not give up. Over the next three years, Nhut studied relentlessly, motivated by a comment his mother had made: “He will probably be the first in the family to finish high school.”

In 2020 Nhut won third place in a city-wide math competition and also passed the entrance exam to get into the marketing degree program at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH). He moved to HCMC with him a few million dong (VND1 million = US$38) his parents had saved.

Determined not to be a burden, he managed his expenses independently—room rent, language studies and daily living costs. Teachers and friends supported him, and the university provided a scholarship to help alleviate the financial strain.

Nevertheless, living alone in the city was initially tough. Struggling to manage everything left him mentally unstable, and there were times when he wanted to give up and return home.

One afternoon in HCMC, while Nhut was eating by the roadside, an elderly woman selling lottery tickets passed by. She walked a few steps away but turned back, placed a ticket in his hand and said: “I wish you good luck.”

This simple act of kindness brought him to tears. He realized that, even amid the fast pace and seeming indifference in the city, people still quietly wish each other well. That moment encouraged him to stay.

Nguyen Ngoc Nhut (R) and his friend at his graduation ceremony at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH). Photo courtesy of Nhut

In early 2023, while in his third year of university, Nhut was awarded an exchange scholarship to Chung-Ang University in South Korea. But he was denied a visa due to insufficient proof of financial means.

Still, the scholarship reignited his motivation. He also recalled a trip with a charity organization to South Korea for fitting prosthetic arms. Though the attempt was unsuccessful, the experience left a lasting impression and fueled his desire to return, this time to pursue his studies.

He began preparing for the TOPIK 4 exam. In his first attempt he failed. His slow pace and difficulty turning pages with his stumps meant he did not have enough time to finish the questions.

In his second attempt writing continued to be a challenge, and he left the exam room feeling disappointed. Nhut began to doubt himself. During his third attempt he thought of his parents, his two sisters working in South Korea, and the expectations of his family for their youngest child as his motivations, but still failed

Before the fourth time he studied late into the night every day, correcting even the smallest mistakes. Yet, it was not until his fifth try that he finally passed TOPIK 4.

“When the university accepted my application, I called my parents, and tears almost welled up,” Nhut says.

Kim Phung, a friend who has followed Nhut’s journey for five years, says he arrived in South Korea not as a disabled person, but as someone with dreams and determination.

“All his efforts have been recognized,” she says.