Disability no obstacle for 'most special' Viet traveller

32-year-old with rare illness an inspiration as he crosses the country in special scooter

On Check In Viet Nam, the largest Vietnamese travel community group on Facebook, Mr Phan Vu Minh is considered by many travel fellows to be a most special wanderer.

This is not because of the number of kilometres he has travelled, but because he does not let being a wheelchair user stop him from pursuing his passion.

Mr Minh was born in 1991 in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long.

At the age of 12, after days of suffering chronic back pain and walking difficulties, he was diagnosed with spinal vascular malformations - a rare condition.

He said he was the second such case diagnosed in Vietnam.

His dreams were fully dashed while he was a 20-year-old university student in Ho Chi Minh City.

During an operation, his spinal cord swelled up, paralysing his legs and rendering him unable to walk.

"When the doctor said the only way out was to wait for a miracle, I was desperate because I knew everything was over," Mr Minh said.

He slipped into depression after returning to his home town. He worried about his future, hated being stuck in a wheelchair, and was terrified of people staring at him.

But he later realised that the way he was living was scarier than his condition. "I thought I needed to make changes in my life for the sake of my parents and my happiness," he said.