Tomorrow, Damien Seguin, skipper born without a left hand, will set sail for the Vendée Globe: the Grail of all sailors, his dream as a kid. He thus became the first handisportive to participate in this solo round-the-world trip.
"I will be the first handisport skipper to take part in this round-the-world trip solo, non-stop and unassisted, it's a real pride," the 41-year-old skipper told AFP, while working on his boat, Apicil Group, a monohull of the Imoca class.
At the age of 6, Mohamad Sesay-alias Balotelli-had only known war.
On January 6, 1999, he was playing with his friends when the shots rang. "My mother took me in her arms and ran to the mountains. “Seven men caught up with us, hit her, and then I fell on the floor. She escaped, but I was taken to the village. They gathered everyone and the machete shots started: hands, legs, genitals, ears, fingers, heads.... Everyone was screaming, the rebels were shooting, I was crying. It took them five strokes to cut my leg, and then I fainted. " A team of doctors Medecins Sans Frontieres saved his life. Years later, after a very difficult life, beggin in the streets of Freetown, he discovered football for amputees. "We were champions of Sierra Leone and I was the top scorer of the African Cup". At the age of 22 years old, he died of liver failure shortly after this testimony.
Football for amputees has its own Cup of the. Angola is THE champion . The seven players of each team have one leg, except the goalkeeper who has two legs, but has only one arm. You have to play with crutches, but you can't use them to touch the ball. As the terrain is smaller, there is no offside.
Like Spain, you will find other national organizations of this type in several countries.
