After the accident, Dương spent almost 900 days in treatment at the hospital and went through 24 surgeries. — Photo VTC News

HÀ NỘI — Senior Lieutenant Đinh Văn Dương was the lone survivor among 21 people in a tragic helicopter crash during a parachuting exercise in Hà Nội on July 7, 2014.

Multiple injuries, including serious burns on 53 per cent of his body, scars on his face, and lost hands and legs all show how he suffered.

The memory of the incident is recalled in his mind every time July comes around.

“Every year close to July 7, I dream about my colleagues. In my dream, I see myself being trained in the sky. The sky keeps the most beautiful memories but the sky also took away my teammates, and my hands and legs,” he told VTC News.

“But if I could choose again, I would still want to be a soldier and fly in the deep blue sky out there. I miss the sky so much!”

Sitting on the wheelchair while looking through a photo album featuring training sessions of Dương’s army team, he said nine years after the accident, the pain of the relatives of the 20 deceased officers has gradually worn off. The scars on his body have almost healed but everything he experienced nine years ago is still present like it happened yesterday.

"The accident happened that day when I and Quang Ba Vì [a nickname Dương gave to his teammate] were laughing and talking.

“I will never forget his smile before the plane crashed,” Dương said.

That’s the smile of one of Uncle Hồ's soldiers who faced hardship during fighting and training but always kept a smile on his face, Dương said.

“Until he died, the smile was still there.”

After the accident, Dương spent almost 900 days in treatment at the hospital and went through 24 surgeries. His heart stopped beating three times.

Dương and his son. —Photo VTC News

In September 2016, he retired from the army and was taken to Thuận Thành War Invalids Nursing Center in northern Bắc Ninh Province to live with nearly 100 wounded soldiers. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, he wanted to spend time taking care of his children, so he stayed at home.

He still has to take medication of 10-20 pain relievers each day.

“I must depend on my wife and my mother to do daily activities. When I feel well enough, I clean the house. When my mother is absent from home to pick up my children and my wife goes to work, I can cook rice using my elbows,” he said.

Dương helps his wife do housework. — Photo VTC News

He said family is the biggest motivation for him to always tell himself not to give up.

"I can keep an optimistic attitude thanks to the encouragement and care of my family. My family's life after the accident has been rather stable, he said.

Building memorial house

Every July, Dương and his family return to the field where Mi 171 helicopter crashed nine years ago in Hòa Lạc Village, Thạch Thất District, Hà Nội.

Photos of 20 martyrs who died in the crash are solemnly placed in a memorial space.

"Losing your hands and legs is like losing everything. I'm luckier than my teammates because I'm still alive. Every time I go back to the place where my teammates died, that’s one more time I am inspired to overcome life's difficulties", the wounded soldier said.

Still keeping in touch with relatives of his unlucky teammates, he understands many of them have struggled to raise small children after their husbands’ death.

“I can do nothing but encourage them to try,” Dương said.

The memorial place for the martyrs is now a simple iron-roofed house next to the site of the accident. Dương's biggest wish is to soon build a solemn house for his teammates’ memorial service.

But his condition does not allow him to do much, he said, adding that he will call for help from authorities. — VNS