He was crippled by an accident while clearing land to plant padi. Left with one leg, he did not wallow in self-pity but picked himself up and got on with his life.

LUYOH Nyalu is 51-years-old and hobbles around on one leg, yet most able-bodied people half his age may find it hard keeping up with him.

Climbing up a steep slope to slice the fronds of a fresh bunch of oil palm fruits at his farm seems like a breeze to this gritty farmer. And he does it all with and without the help of his crutches.

Together with his wife Lemoi Anak Jinau, 50, he toils to bring up their two girls and despite his handicap, has started the back-breaking task of clearing land for an oil palm smallholding, about 90km from Miri.

Luyoh and his family had also gone through the heartbreak of seeing their home reduced to ashes in the early 1990’s when the 39-door Rumah Lagan longhouse at Telajin in Sibuti was burnt down. It was later rebuilt.

The gutsy Luyoh took the adversities in his stride and with his optimistic nature and steely determination, saw his family through a lot of difficulties over the past three decades.

GRITTY: Luyoh and his wife epitomise the never-say-die spirit and are an inspiration to the physically challenged people.

His lower right leg was amputated after his foot was crushed by a tree he was felling with a chainsaw to make way for a paddy field in 1979.

The blade got stuck, and as he tugged at it, the tree fell on his right foot.

He was crippled by the accident, yet, with just one leg, has, over the years, bravely faced and overcome the many challenges most able-bodied people would have fought shy of.

With his wife at his side, he went on to lead a normal and active life, raising their children, venturing into oil palm smallholding, planting padi, rearing fish in ponds and harvesting them with nets and many other activities associated with longhouse life.

DILIGENT: Luyoh weaving a fishing net in his longhouse.

His eldest daughter, Bejau, 30, lives in Miri with her husband and their three children. Her sibling, Mary Sian, 16, has left school two years ago, and is now helping the family in their longhouse.

Luyoh’s small oil palm plantation is well-maintained and its productivity underscores the hard work he has put into the farm, about 20 minutes’ walk from his longhouse.

In fact, he has applied to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) for more seedlings. He started out with 300 from the Board in 1997, and later bought 200 more with his own savings.

“Some of the trees are getting too tall for me to harvest and I want to replant,” he said of his application (for seedlings) to the Board together with the others from the longhouse a year ago.

“My harvest is slightly smaller than those of the other (able-bodied) farmers. Now, my youngest daughter is learning and helping out,” he said.

His wife and daughter help carry the fruits to the collection points while Luyoh lugs a bunch or two in the bag over his shoulders.

During the rainy spell when the slopes are slippery, the crutch-supported Luyoh suffers many falls but manages to avoid serious injuries each time.

He caps the bottom of his crutches with cans to create a bigger footing to prevent them sinking into soft earth.

According to councillor Rapahal Engkamat Juna, sheer diligence has enabled Luyoh to produce just as much from his oil palm smallholding and other crops as any other of the farmers in the longhouse.

“He can still handle a chainsaw, carry out repairs, climb up a steep hill and do many things even people like us are unable to,” Rapahal told thesundaypost.

Meanwhile, Bejau said her father never wallowed in self-pity despite his physical handicap but encouraged his two children to be independent and hard working.

“Life was tough when we were planting padi only but it got better after we had the oil palm going. My father’s strength and independence carried us through all the hardships,” she added.

According to Bejau, her father told her and her sister that the will to get things done usually resulted in things getting done — handicapped or not.

“He taught us that laziness means nothing gets done even though we are able-bodied, and encouraged us to be independent.”

Bejau recalled during her school days, she had to walk two hours to the primary school at Temang because of poor accessibility by road … and 4WD vehicles called at their longhouse only once in a while.

But this has changed for the better with the opening of oil palm plantations and smallholdings in the area, and 4 WDs vehicles and pick-ups are now a common sight.

For Luyoh and his wife, they will continue to treasure their independence even though age is catching up and they hope their other son-in-law (of the future) can help out with the work at the farm.