Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 29, 1990 TAG: 9007260290
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUGLAS PARDUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"They get sore in the day and more at night when I try to sleep," he says.
It's been a year and a half since the 31-year-old Vietnamese refugee lost both legs, one above and one below the knee, in an accident at Louisville Scrap Material in Roanoke.
In that time Dinh, 30, has learned to walk on two artificial legs. "The legs are like real," he says. "Look, they even have toenails."
His step is awkward and stiff, like the Tin Man in "The Wizard of Oz," but he can walk to his car, get in and drive.
These days, though, Dinh prefers to get about in a wheelchair at home where he takes care of his twin daughters, Anna and Margaret, who were born in December.
He hasn't recovered enough to get a job, but says the girls are all the full-time work he needs for now. While he watches the twins, his wife, Luyen, is able to continue working at Home Shopping Network.
Linh Dinh settled in Roanoke in 1987, moving here after fleeing Vietnam by boat in 1986. His sister and brother-in-law had settled in Roanoke a year earlier and urged him to join them.
Linh Dinh joined his brother-in-law working at Louisville Scrap Material, but his plans were to enroll in college and become an architect.
That's still his dream, he says, but he needs more time to recover from the January 1989 accident, when the side of a railway car fell on his legs while he was using an acetylene torch to cut it apart for scrap.
After the accident, Dinh and his wife bought a $51,500 ranch-style home on Peachtree Drive in Northwest Roanoke, using almost all of the $10,000 injury settlement he got for the down-payment and closing costs.
With his worker's compensation and his wife's income from Home Shopping, they are able to get by and make the $426 monthly mortgage payment.
He still hopes to become an architect, and would like to take some preparatory classes this fall at Virginia Western. In the meantime, he says, he's studying at home and trying to master English and an IBM computer he was given after his accident.
He eagerly shows off what he has written on the computer, including some research reports for his English teacher.
With obviously improving English, he says, "I wish when they gave me the computer they gave me a printer, too."
At times, the loss of his legs overwhelms him, but he says his spirit is unbroken. He credits that to his wife's love and devotion. And "I have two babies now to make a life for."
by CNB