Vietnam - May 14, 2015

On November 30th, 2013, then 6-year-old Thinh was riding on the back of his mother’s motorcycle on the way to his grandparents’ home. When they drove through the Ly Hoa mountain pass, they were hit by a truck that was trying to pass from behind. The motorcycle was dragged by the truck until both Thinh and his mother were thrown from the motorcycle.

Thinh’s leg was broken, and in very bad condition. Onlookers brought Thinh to the emergency room in Quang Trach Distict, where he was then transferred to a hospital in Dong Hoi for an emergency blood transfusion.  Following the emergency procedure, he was moved to another hospital, where he underwent several operations. Thinh has undergone 5 more surgeries since and has spent 10 months improving his walking in the hospital. He still needs needs one more surgery.

Fortunately, Thinh did not suffer brain injuries because his head was protected by a helmet.

Under the context of the Third UN Global Road Safety Week, Thinh re-told his crash story to Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang on May 14, 2015. Thinh read a letter calling for the Government to take action to improve road safety and presented collected signatures supporting the Child Declaration for Road Safety to Minister Thang.