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The Golden Leg: The young footballer who lost a leg in an accident stars in the Israel Intermediate Team Israel today

2021-10-15T05:03:20.239Z


18-year-old Ben Maman predicted a bright future as a footballer Israel for amputated legs, and a month ago won a media goal in the Euro tournament in Poland • "Regular football has been my whole life," he says, "but a year after the serious injury I play again, conquer, live."


A month ago, at the European Championships for amputees, Ben Maman (18) swung his right foot and scored a spectacular goal for the Israeli team, a goal that gave the team its first ever victory in the Euro tournament - 0: 1 against Belgium.

A moment of refined happiness, after a year of many other, difficult and painful moments.

"I was seriously injured in a car accident and my left leg, which was the strongest leg, was amputated," says someone who until a year ago was considered a footballer with a promising future.

"I did not know my soul from the pain and sadness that I had lost my leg, and in fact the dream of a professional career in football, the love of my life. I cried and screamed from physical and mental pain, I could not find rest," he recalls.

"Luckily, a month and a half after the accident, I was first exposed to the Israeli football team, and a year later - here I am again on the field. Playing, kicking, conquering, alive. I feel I have found a place, maybe different, but real, to be with the ball again."

• • •

We meet at his home in Netanya, a moment after he returned with the team from the European Championships in Poland.

From the window of the house you can clearly see the Maccabi Netanya football stadium, which is a total of five minutes walk from here.

How much a son would want to juggle there with the ball in both feet.

During the interview, he walks between the rooms of the house with the prosthesis fitted to his left leg, saying that he is with her "only" 5-4 hours a day.

"It's not enough," he says.

"There are those who manage to be 18 hours with the prosthesis as well. I still have a hard time with it. It hurts and I need long breaks."

"It's hard to explain how much horizon this team gives me in life."

Ben Maman (second from left) with team captain Tzah Shalur in a match against Spain in the Euro tournament in Poland, Photo: European Union EAFF

He is the eldest son of Shai (44) and Oshrat (42), and a brother to Celine (16) and Matan (8).

Father Shai, who works hard to support the family, goes out early in the morning to work as a municipal employee on a garbage truck and at night is a DJ at events.

"Since the accident we have had a lot of expenses, because of Ben's condition," he says, "and happiness is devoted only to his care."

Ever since he was tiny, Ben remembers himself with every possible ball - sponge, tennis, football - kicking hard at anything that moves under his feet.

"Even with bottles I played street football with my friends. I just wanted to kick, play football in any form. That's all that interested me.

"I remember playing from the age of 6, every break at school and of course after school. I would go with the guys, find some vacant lot in town or in the neighborhood and hit a game."

At the age of 11, not really early, he mustered up the courage to join an orderly group.

"I was afraid to get into the frame and play in the league, it would have seemed threatening to me," he recalled.

"At the age of 11, I joined the football school of the Tobruk Club in Netanya, but I was still afraid of being on a team that plays in the league. I did not know what my level was. I felt I had abilities, but I did not know what I was really worth.

"I started training there, and after some training, Yuval Azaria, who was then in charge of the football school in Tobruk, came to me and said, 'I do not understand what you are doing in the football school, I want to promote you to the league.'

The happy son decided to take the opportunity with both hands, or rather with his formidable left foot.

He joined Tobruk's boys' group C and began tearing up nets as a striker and left winger.

"In my second season with the team I had already scored 13 goals and they would have taken me to play and support a team of a year above me," he recalled.

"I really started investing in myself and everything related to the game. I was thin, so I started eating according to the instructions of a nutritionist who worked with me. I worked privately at the gym with the footballer Adi Nemani, and I also did private running training."

With the hard work also came results, and Ben was revealed as a serial conqueror, endowed with great speed and excellent punches.

He also specialized in accurate free kicks.

In his third season in the Tobruk uniform he scored 17 goals, and there were those who predicted a bright future for him.

Ben Maman on the field, before the accident, Photo: From the private album

"I already signed him up for an impression on a team in Europe that wanted to see him," says Father Shay.

"He was supposed to go there after the corona, and the future looks rosy."

Then, on October 28, 2020, came that bad and bitter day.

"At the age of 16 and a half, I joined the youth team and started the season," Ben recalled.

“I was then a courier at Pizza and started studying in the twelfth grade.

I studied until noon and went to work until the middle of the night, when in the afternoon I would take a break for training and then return to work.

It was very important to me to be serious both in school and in football, and also to make money.

"I do not remember the accident itself at all, I just remember that I came to work in the industrial area in Netanya and they gave me a pizza delivery that I had to bring into the city. I went out for delivery and woke up in the hospital."

The happy mother, who hears her son, does not hold back and sheds a tear.

She remembers well the moment she found out about the accident.

"It was in the evening," she recalls.

"Ben was riding his scooter, and another driver burst into the intersection at a red light and entered it.

"The paramedic who treated Ben called Shai and reported the accident to him, and Shai informed me. We flew to Niado Hospital, where Ben was rushed by ambulance. He was immediately taken to the operating room and did not leave until the morning. At the operation they gave him 12 doses of blood and saved his life. But they managed to stop the bleeding and also treated the damaged spleen, liver and kidneys.These were very difficult moments for us.

"After stabilizing his condition, he was transferred to Tel Hashomer Hospital, where he was immediately taken to the operating room, where his left leg was amputated."

Ben's strong leg, which was supposed to lead him to a team in Europe, was badly damaged in the accident, and doctors had no choice but to amputate it below the knee.

• • •

For three weeks Ben was anesthetized and respirated.

When he woke up, his parents, in consultation with the hospital's psychological staff, decided not to tell him yet that his leg had been amputated.

"When I woke up, dizzy from all the medication and painkillers I was given, I did not understand why I could not move," he recalled.

"Because I had a blanket on all the time, I still did not understand that my left leg was amputated."

A week and a half after he woke up, he was informed of the serious accident in which he had lost his leg.

"Mom sat with me in the room and said, 'Son, you had a serious accident and you really have to say thank you for being here with us, that you're alive. It's not obvious.' Then she said, 'They had to amputate your left leg, below the knee.'

"The way she said that sentence, I started crying. It was scary. I lay in bed all day crying. I thought about football and that it was, it's all gone. The love of my life ended like this, all at once. I cried all day and all night."

"My son had a bright future, and the dream was cut short along with the habit," Father Shai adds.

"There are not many such left-wing connections in Israeli football, but with all due respect to the dream, after the accident we first of all wanted our child alive - and thank God, that's what happened."

Before he could digest his new condition, another blow landed on Ben.

A few weeks after the first surgery an infection developed in the amputated leg, which caused a high fever and forced the doctors to perform another painful operation and amputate the leg above the knee as well, which tells a completely different story.

"I think it was the hardest day of my life, except for the day of the accident of course," Osher recalls.

"As a mother, telling your child that you are going to amputate his leg above the knee is an inconceivable thing at all."

Ben himself, though a young man who knows how to hold a passon, almost sheds a tear when he remembers those days.

"After the second surgery I had excruciating pain. I was broken," he recalled.

"I began to understand that my life was ruined and that football was gone for me, and this understanding struck me strongly at night and during the day.

"I was nervous and often woke up screaming. For whole nights I talked to Mom and Dad, who did not leave me for a moment. I told Mom 'It hurts me. It hurts. I'm sad, it's hard for me." "Of course I was the loss of football. It drove me crazy that this is it, that it was all over. It just went, like this."

Oshrat adds in tears: "It was the hardest time of our lives. The only thing that held me back was the fact that my son survived. I knew we could lose him too, and that if I heard him scream and cry, it was a sign that he was alive. That's what gave us some air."

For three months Ben did not get out of bed.

His physical and mental condition was extremely difficult, however his family and friends were with him all the time, trying to encourage and support.

Tahal, his girlfriend for the past six years, has also been by his side all along.

"We were together from the seventh grade, we met at the ORT Shtaklis school in Netanya," says Ben.

"Tahal has not left me for a moment since the accident. She came to Tel Hashomer by bus every day and her presence helped me a lot."

"She came to the hospital by bus."

With his partner Tahal, photo: from the private album

Oshrat: "After the accident, it was difficult for Ben to continue the relationship. He did not want Tahal to stay with him from a place of pity. They also parted for a short time, but returned very quickly."

Ben smiles.

"Love has won, that's clear," he says.

"We realized she was stronger than my injury, and that we were happy together."

Despite his beloved, family and friends who were by his side, Ben had a hard time getting up and getting out of grief over his condition.

Until one day, three months after his injury, he decided to get up anyway.

"I decided it was. Enough," he says.

"I said to my mother 'Today I take matters into my own hands. I want to rehabilitate myself no matter what.' And I went into the strongest rehabilitation possible.

"I worked with all my determination. So much so that the physiotherapists at Tel Hashomer told me that there are patients who say 'we want to be like a son.' To do matriculation.

"My educator, Neta Kedem, came to the hospital with my whole class from ORT Yad Leibowitz High School in Netanya. They brought me a laptop that I studied with, and I even joined Zoom classes. I did not give up on myself, I sat for hours and managed to finish school with full matriculation, even with honors. ".

"I went into the strongest rehabilitation possible."

A son at Tel Hashomer Hospital, after the accident, Photo: From the private album

For seven months Ben was hospitalized.

He underwent a grueling rehabilitation, during which he began to learn to walk with a prosthesis in his left leg.

"It was not very easy at first," Osher recalls.

"It took Ben a while to get used to the prosthesis, and he is still in a difficult process. At first he was a bit ashamed, and even today he is mostly at home and doesn't go out much because of this limitation."

• • •

The one who nevertheless takes Ben out of the house, gives him moments of happiness that he no longer thought he would experience like them, is the fragmented team of Israel, thanks to which he returned to star on the football field, this time as a midfielder and striker.

The first acquaintance with the team took place a month and a half after the accident.

His father, Shai, who was looking for a prosthesis for his left foot, met Adv. Tzach Shaharur, 33, a amputee himself, who founded the team and serves as its captain.

Tzah himself was injured at the age of 8, after on his way back home from a karate club in Ramat Gan he crossed a crosswalk and a bus got on his left foot and crushed it.

"I managed to jump back and that's how my life was saved," he recalls.

"I was evacuated by ambulance, conscious and in excruciating pain, to Tel Hashomer Hospital. I underwent no less than seven surgeries that literally rebuilt my foot, but even after that I suffered severe foot pain and was very limited. I could not do sports, barely walk 100 meters, And the situation only got worse. "

Three years ago, when he was already 30 years old and 22 years away from injury, Tzach made a dramatic decision.

"I decided to completely amputate my leg, precisely to improve my quality of life," he explains.

"And it did happen. Suddenly I could put on a prosthesis and do sports. I started surfing and doing kite surfing and snowboarding. I play pochibuli, paddle kayaks, box and train three times a day, and I'm in great shape."

How did the truncated team start?

"I was looking to do sports competitively, and I saw on Google that there are teams for the discontinued. I saw a summary of the 2017 Euro final between Turkey and England, which ended in a 1: 2 victory for Turkey, and it was crazy. There were 40,000 spectators.

"I continued to research and realized that it is a sport that is very developing in the world and already exists in 70 countries, so I started looking for word of mouth and through social networks. At first we were three 'crazy', Azi Ben Shaul (45) whose leg was amputated four years ago 26) who lost his leg in a motorcycle accident ten years ago and generally played basketball in a wheelchair, and I.

"At first we only played the three of us, we learned the secrets of the game together. In intermittent football, games are played seven against seven, the size of the field is 75 percent the size of a regular field, ie 60 meters long and 40 meters wide, and the game is two halves of 25 minutes each.

"Slowly, more players were gathered who heard about us by word of mouth and various publications, and today the team consists mainly of those who have been in road accidents, as well as IDF invalids and people with disabilities who have four limbs but at least one is dysfunctional or has real disabilities.

Such, by the way, are allowed only three in the group.

“In August 2019 we set up the intermittent team, and a month later we received an invitation from the Greek association to come to a friendly match, which was our first game ever.

"Even though we lost 3: 1, the game and the whole event were very exciting for everyone and especially for me, because I scored the goal in our favor. I felt I established a place that gives me and others a lot of air and hope. A place with true belonging and commitment. The State of Israel. "

From the beginning, the team has been supported and funded with donations.

Altshuler Shaham has adopted her and gives her tens of thousands of shekels every year, but Tzach says that is not enough.

"Altshuler Shaham is an amazing company that is very helpful to us, but in order to continue to exist we must receive more donations and financial support. We are really begging for it," he says.

"We already have international recognition from the World Federation of Amputated Football and also from the European Federation of Industry, along with recognition from the Ministry of Sports. The Football Association is also in touch with us, but we have no financial support from any official body.

Ben, for his part, heard about the new team and did not hesitate for a moment.

"Tzach is an amazing man," he says.

"He came to me at the hospital, showed me his prosthesis and said 'here, I'm playing football with it, I'm going to the beach with it, I'm surfing.'

"It gave me a tremendous drive and was a significant writer in my rehabilitation, emotionally and physically. He just gave me hope.

"In rehabilitation there was one psychologist who told me 'you will not play football anymore, try to forget about this dream,' but how can I forget? Until now I dream a lot that I play and conquer as a regular player.

"The loss of regular football is something that still sits on me and is part of the sadness, the anxiety and the loss I feel. I lost a leg, which is a lot, and I also lost the game that was my whole life.

"Then Tzach came and gave me a horizon. He told me that he had set up a football team for the players, a place where I could go back to playing football. Although different, because it is a very different type of game of course, ".

• • •

Half a year ago, when the dream of joining the truncated team was beating in his heart, Ben returned home from the long rehabilitation.

"It was amazing to suddenly sleep at home, in my bed," he exclaims.

"Although I continue to come to Tel Hashomer three times a week and undergo physiotherapy, gym and psychological treatment, it is a very different situation than being there all the time."

A month after he got home, he joined the amputee team, but for the first training session he actually got sick.

"I was finished, dead," he says, "and beyond that, I have never played on crutches in my life, and that is a whole new language of body and mind on the field that I needed time to adjust to.

"I also felt I had expectations, because before the accident I was a footballer and everyone wanted me to show them a performance and such, but nothing went my way. I couldn't do anything with the crutches. I went home and informed the parents that I did not want it and no longer went to training."

Oshrat: "We told him that there is no way he is retiring. He will wait and be patient, because it is something that can help him a lot. We told him that this is a place where he can realize his dreams and be on the field again, on the grass. .

Son with parents Oshrat and Shai and brothers Celine and Matan.

Oshrat: "I knew we could also lose him," Photo: Efrat Eshel

• • •

And Ben did decide to fight.

bravely.

After two weeks of crisis he returned to the field, this time the situation changed completely.

“I got to another workout when I was no longer sick, and this time I felt insane adrenaline as I stepped onto the grass,” he describes.

"True, it was very different from the game I was used to, and it's true that it was not my big dream, but after everything that happened to me, I realized that if you can fulfill even half a dream - I'm there.

"The game moved me, gave me a ray of light and belonging to a team with great guys and a commitment to training. I felt that I was learning a new and different game, and that I, with a ball, on the grass, represented the Israeli team. I returned to football."

Was it hard to get used to playing with the crutches?

"At first I had pain in my shoulders and leg. In addition, I play on one leg and I also had to get used to playing with the right leg, and not with the left which was dominant until the injury and amputation. But I adapted quickly, also because I just did not have time.

"Three weeks after I started training we already had a preparatory tournament in Poland. I was excited and scared to death from this trip, I never played a whole game with crutches. I was also scared because until this trip I was still not abroad, and now I had to travel alone, without Dad And mother.

Until the trip, when I was in pain, I would tell my parents and they helped me with everything.

I was not used to dealing alone, but I did not give up.

My psychologist also pushed me to fly and cope. "

In one of the preparatory tournament games, against Ukraine, Ben scored his first goal in the Israeli national team uniform in Europe.

"Although we lost 3: 1, I scored the goal with a shot and it was an amazing feeling. Otherwise," he describes excitedly.

"It was the first goal of the team in Europe and I was excited on a crazy level. Everyone lifted me on my shoulders, and I was all three weeks on crutches. It gave me tremendous hope.

"It's hard to explain how much horizon this team gives me in life. There are a lot of difficult moments where I'm still dealing with the injury, and I still have pains and fears from my new life, but now I also have the training and games with the team, and after returning from pre-tournament we started preparing for the championship. Europe. For the euro. "

How did you prepare?

"We had a fitness coach, a goalkeeping coach, a physiotherapist, a really serious shell. The whole team came voluntarily or for token sums, because everyone understood the size of the event and got involved. We players tore ourselves up, we came home without a leg ... you see, too I have already developed black humor. "

About a month ago, the team traveled to the European Championships, which were also held in Poland.

14 teams from all over the continent performed there, with the Israeli team having their first ever appearance in the tournament and the excitement among all the players was of course enormous.

"We traveled two days after my 18th birthday," he says.

"Mom poured milk on me before I left for the airport, a kind of superstition, so that I could return home safely.

Perhaps because of the excitement, the team itself opened the championship on the left foot.

"In the first game, against Spain, we lost 3-0," says Ben.

"They are a very strong team that also advanced to the final and lost 6: 0 to Turkey. Then we played against Poland, who are also strong and took third place in the tournament, and we snatched them 8: 0. It was not enough that it sucks murder, then we snatched a five from Ukraine as well.

"After the losses we got to the ranking games on 14-9 places, where we played against Greece and lost 3: 1. Then we had two games against Belgium on 14-13 places, and we really did not want to finish last.

"The first game ended in a draw, and in the second game our record finally came, and my personal record.

"It happened 20 seconds after the start of the second half. Our goalkeeper David Feldman took a ball to Hamza Suleiman, he handed it to me, I handed it to Azi, and he returned it to me and gave me a goal with his right foot. I just put the ball in the net."

How did you feel?

"Wow. I was happy. I scored a goal in the Euros for the Israeli team. The greatest happiness was in the end, when we won the game and achieved our first victory in the Euros.

"After the game and the celebrations I also thought about how I would most like in the world to do it in regular football as well, but mostly I was happy about the victory, the goal and where I am today. I was blown away that I was there, playing football and scoring. I was glad I found something else, exciting.

"In the locker room we all sang and celebrated together and it was great fun. Then we proudly entered the hotel with Israeli flags and went to see the final of the tournament, which was held that day."

The amputee team and the team at the European Championships in Poland.

Captain Tzah Release: "Pride to Represent Israel", Photo: EAFF

• • •

היום, שנה אחרי התאונה, בן עדיין בתהליך שיקום מפרך שבמסגרתו הוא מגיע שלוש פעמים בשבוע לבית החולים תל השומר. הוא מודע לכך שמדובר בתהליך ארוך, פיזית ורגשית, עם מטען כבד מהפציעה.

לפני שבוע חזר להתאמן ביחד עם הנבחרת, וכמה שהוא חיכה לזה. הנה הוא רץ עם הקביים, מוסר ברגלו הימנית וגם קופץ ונוגח, והנה הוא מבקיע גול מרהיב וזורח מאושר.

בתחילת האימון, שאורך כשעתיים, נמצאת עם השחקנים הפיזיותרפיסטית מיכל נחמה שטיפלה ברבים מהם ולימדה אותם ללכת מחדש בתל השומר. היא מגיעה לאימון אחד בשבוע, עובדת על חיזוק הגוף ועל הגמישות ומבצעת איתם תרגילי פיזיותרפיה במגרש. אחריה מגיע מאמן הכושר אור הנגבי, שקורע להם את הצורה. ספרינטים עם הקביים, קפיצות, מה לא.

ואז מגיע תורו של המאמן הראשי, שרון פז, שמעביר לנבחרת אימון כדורגל לכל דבר. השחקנים מתמסרים ובועטים לשער והכל מתבצע בהמון רצינות ומשמעת.

בסוף, הם מקנחים במשחקון. יואב מוסר מעמדת הבלם לעזי שמעביר לצח, שקולט את בן, ששם את הכדור ברשת. גם במשחק החדש שלמד, הוא ניחן ביכולת הבקעה מרשימה וכל גול מוציא ממנו התלהבות של נער צוהל, שזה עתה הבקיע בפעם הראשונה.

חברי הקבוצה מתאמצים, נהנים וצוחקים, ואחרי האימון הם פשוט גמורים. "שמע, זו קריעת תחת", אומר לי צח, "תחשוב שהכל נעשה עם לחץ גדול מאוד על פלג הגוף העליון, שמפעיל את הקביים והרגל הבריאה. זה קושי עצום ומפרך".

בערב המאוחר, כשבן חוזר הביתה, בת הזוג תהל מחכה לו עם חיבוק. אמא אושרת מכינה לו ארוחת ערב, ואבא שי לא מצליח לעצור את ההתרגשות. "יש מיליון שחקנים עם שתי רגליים שלא מגיעים בסוף לכלום", הוא אומר, "והבן שלי, עם רגל אחת, כבר ניצח עם נבחרת ישראל במשחק באליפות אירופה. נבחרת ישראל הרגילה הגיעה לזה? אז הוא כובש עם רגל אחת כי זה מה שאלוהים רצה שיעשה, והוא יגיע ויכבוש גם את האוורסט".

erannavon9@gmail.com

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2021-10-15

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