Nong Nunt's story is an inspiration to all Thais

EDITORIAL
Nong Nunt's story is an inspiration to all Thais
By The Nation
Published on June 19, 2011


Instead of whining, the teenager who lost her legs has shown indomitable spirit and her beautiful smile

By simply smiling her high-spirited smile, Nong Nunt has shown all of us how to keep our head up. No lecture. No teaching. Not even advice. The smile just spoke volumes. It tells all of us that if she can do it, so can we.

Over the past weeks, the story of Nong Nunt, or Nitcharee Penekchanasak, became the talk of the town because of her characteristic good spirits and poise beyond her years. Her message to the audience was clear: don't try to avoid the truth, accept the reality and then, smile and make the best of your life.

It is unfortunate that Nong Nunt, who just celebrated her 15th birthday last week, lost both of her legs because of an accident on the Singapore mass transit system. While on her way to meet friends at Singapore East Coast Park in April, she fell onto the tracks and was hit by a train.

Nong Nunt nonetheless came back to Thailand last week not as a victim but as a triumphant young girl who still determines to pursue her dream as a psychiatrist.

"Don't get too caught up on what you don't have now, but instead look to what you can have in the future," she said to The Nation during a recent interview.

Over the past few days, Nong Nunt's story seems to be the only inspiring story amidst a crowd of political verbal exchange and non-sense celebrity gossip stories.

Otherwise, the media has devoted a lot of airtime to a recent cat-fight between a middle school and high school students. A certain morning TV news talk show programme took this catfight seriously as it aired the clip in full, even though this high media exposure could leave a lasting impact on the young students on both sides.

Amidst the desperate and gloomy mood, Nong Nunt story has a different message to the audience.

Nong Nunt could have easily portrayed herself as a victim. But she projected herself as a hopeful young girl. She chose to take the audience through her journey as a protagonist who managed to overcome the odds with good spirits and lack of self-pity. She thought of others even during the moments which could be her darkest hours.

During a TV interview, she told the reporters that she had to console her tearful mother and relatives when they found out that she would lose her legs forever. Nong Nunt said: "I had to be strong because I don't want my mom and visitors to feel depressed with my plight. I told them although I lost my legs, my spirits remain the same."

It's hard to comprehend how a young girl with a bright future ahead of her actually took the news that she would not be able to walk normally for the rest of her days. It must be a painful and emotional experience.

But Nong Nunt framed her story, albeit unintentionally, as an example of the hopeful young girl whose spirit is unaffected by any circumstance.

Nong Nunt won the hearts of many even though she never asked anyone to shed tears for her plight. This strong young woman never cited her gender or young age to ask for any sympathy, while many adults shamelessly try to portray themselves as being victimised. Otherwise, these adults tend to blame the others for whatever went wrong in their lives without any will to fight to overcome the odds.

Her authenticity gave many hopes. While her story was on air, several running SMS messages flooded in, thanking her for showing an inspiring story of how a person can overcome a painful experience. People are cheering for her and want to see her succeed in life in whatever endeavour she plans to take.

It is sad that it takes this desperate nation the tragedy of a young girl to give us hope.