Indomitable girls play football despite losing limbs

About five years ago Jesmin Akhter, 27, along with her family met with an accident on their way to visit the beach in Cox’s Bazar. There were total five people on the CNG-run auto-rickshaw including her husband Abdus Shukkur and six-year-old daughter Tasfia.

Their auto-rickshaw crashed into another one as soon as it reached the main road in Teknaf. Jesmin’s husband was left dead on the spot. Jesmin was admitted to Chattogram Medical College Hospital in a critically injured condition. Her right leg was amputated from above the knee.

This correspondent spoke to Jesmin at a hotel in Fakirapool of the capital on Tuesday evening. She had her daughter Tasfia with her. Jesmin supports her family comprising herself and her daughter by sewing clothes at her village home in Teknaf. She has come to Dhaka to be part of a unique initiative.

Jesmin is attending a five-day amputee football training jointly organised by non-government organisation Sports for Hope and Independence (SHI) and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for people who have lost their limbs or were born with limb defects.

Jesmin with a beaming face was saying, “I was surprised when I received the offer to participate in this training through a local non-government organisation. I was thinking, how do you play football with just one leg!”  

Other women participants of the training programme residing at the hotel also spoke in unison. A total of 13 women like Jesmin are participating in this event. They have come from different districts of the country.

Some of them were born with underdeveloped limbs, some lost their limbs in accidents while, some of their limbs were amputated because of diseases like cancer or typhoid.

However this could not break them. Some of them are continuing with their studies, some are working alongside their studies or some of them have become entrepreneurs.

Bangladesh Amputee Football Association (BAFA), World Amputee Football Federation and Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) helped organise the event.

The football camp and training of the coaches started on the artificial turf of BFF in Dhaka from 6 October. Last Thursday, 10 October was the last day of this programme.

There was an exhibition football match on the same field Thursday afternoon. British coach of World Amputee Football Federation, Harry Smith was there as the trainer in this programme organised at Dhaka.

Head of sports for development at SHI, Pappu Modak, told Prothom Alo that this is the first time women amputee football has been launched in South Asia. Apart from 13 female footballers, 14 male footballers and 15 coaches (both male and female) participated in this event.

This event in Dhaka is basically the follow-up work of SHI and ICRC. Earlier the two organisations had organised football training and match for these women in Sreemangal from last 1 to 10 September.  

Tanzila Akhter Shila, 21, is studying first year of higher secondary at Gulshan Commerce College in the capital. She is the youngest among five siblings. She lives with her mother and elder brother in Rampura area of Dhaka.

Tanzila became the victim of a gas cylinder explosion while gone for tuition to a teacher’s house in November of 2014. Tanzila was 11 years old back then. Her niece Ashrafi, 7, was among the people killed in the fire there. Tanzila’s body including her face was burnt in that explosion.

Later, when infection spread through her right leg physicians amputated that. That agonising memory still haunts Tanzila. However, being involved in the game of football has transformed her views.

Tanzila said, “I used to think, I wouldn’t be able to do anything. At first I couldn’t believe you can play football with just one leg. And now I’m dreaming of keeping myself involved in playing football. When I play, I forget all the pains and worries. In fact, it makes me feel physically fit as well.”

The stories of these women are heart rending. Sumaiya Akhter, 17, who came from Pirojpur, uses an artificial leg. Her father used to work at a hotel in Dhaka once. While Sumaiya was just three, her mother was returning home with her after visiting her father in Dhaka.

Leaving Sumaiya with the driver’s assistant, her mother tried getting on the bus with her luggage on the road in front of airport. But, when the bus started before she could board, she started running after the bus to get Sumaiya back.

The driver then slowed the bus down and the assistant put Sumaiya out of bus on the ground. Sumaiya who was very young at that time lost her balance and fell flat on the ground. The wheels of the bus rolled over her legs. After going through a long treatment period, her right leg had to be amputated.

Mentioning that sports give her immense delight, Sumaiya said that her father and two elder brothers play football. In her childhood, she passed them the ball with her hands sitting on the sidelines countless number of times. But, she never dreamt that she herself would also play football someday.

The crutches used for playing amputee football are a bit more open. She would graze the skin on her hand when she started playing with those first. Now she has become so expert that she being propped up on those crutches can run fast with the ball.

Coach Kakoli Akhter said, “Seeing the girls being interested in playing frees me of all my own worries as well.”

The left leg of Fahima Akhter who came from Sylhet, became paralysed from typhoid in her childhood. She is now preparing for admission in post-graduation. She said, “After I started playing, it gave me courage that one can still play sports with this sort of physical condition.”

Yasmin Akhter, 23, from Teknaf is studying in her third year of honours on the subject of political science. Alongside that, she works in an NGO as well. She lost her right leg after falling off a one-story building at the age of 11. Being involved in this game gave her a confidence boost and this feeling is fueling her to move forward in life, she said.

Mukta Akhter, 24, is doing her master’s degree in political science from Carmichael College in Rangpur. She was born without her right hand. Playing means keeping the body and mind fresh as well as a boost to her confidence, also to her.

Fatema Akhter from Sreepur of Gazipur has an artificial leg and no wrist on her left hand. Fatema who is a college student now, was born with this limb defect. Fatema said when she received the offer to play, she was doubtful thinking about if she would be able to play or not. But her mother said, “You should go play. You can do it.”

Mosammat Nasrin Akhter, 17, of Sylhet was born with an underdeveloped right hand. She is about to take the secondary school certificate examinations next year.

Nasrin said she was also encouraged by her mother to come. Her uncles had said, “She would not be able to play.” To which her mother had replied, “Let her go and see if she can.”

The left leg of Moazzema Khatun, 26, became paralysed from severe fever at the age of just six months. Captain of the team, Rajanee Khatun, 16, is a student of class eight at a school in Pabna. She lost her left leg under the wheels of a truck while running to cross the road in her childhood.

Abhipsa Barua Mani, 15, who came from Ramu upazila in Cox’s Bazar lost her leg from cancer. Shaheda Begum, 12, of Cox’s Bazar and Afnan Jahan, 11, of Ukhiya were born with underdeveloped legs. They all said that the sport has given a boost to their confidence.

Founder of Sports for Hope and Independence (SHI) Sharmin Farhana Chowdhury told Prothom Alo that a lot of the women despite having the desire don’t get the chance to play sports because of the social setting. The scope narrows even more for those who have lost their limbs on various reasons.

After all, this event is organised with the aim of helping these girls gain self-confidence getting out of the grasp of their painful experiences. Their confidence got a boost just as they were playing. The confidence they gained from this will help them overcome any obstacles in the future, she added.