Ben Binyamin was left for dead by Hamas militants when they stormed into Israel on October 7th.
Six months later, he has become the rock in the center of defense for the Israeli national Amputee football team, who are dreaming of lifting the Euro 2024 Cup in France in June.
Binyamin was celebrating his 29th birthday at the Supernova music festival, where 364 people died.
The attackers threw four grenades and fired bullets into the air raid shelter where he and his friends were taking shelter, causing him to lose his right leg. His fiancée also lost a leg.
A former professional player who lost his right leg said, “I never thought I'd play soccer again.'' “I was sure he wouldn't be able to walk, let alone run.”
But here he burst from midfield on crutches and fired a sharp left-footed shot from the edge of the box into the top corner.
Binyamin prefers to reflect on the horror he experienced in the October 7 attack that killed about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli government officials. do not have.
“You can't even imagine it,” he said.
he lost a friend. The body of one of them, Shani Luk, was paraded in the Gaza Strip after the bloody incident, according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
Two other teammates at the training session near Tel Aviv were soldiers who lost their legs in the fight against Hamas in Gaza.
One was shot by a sniper, and another had his leg chopped off by a rocket hit by an armored personnel carrier.
– “I'm better off without legs” –
But now this brotherhood has found amazing resilience and a deep well of mutual support that propelled Israel's nascent amputee soccer team to the European finals.
Zach Sikrul, who scouted them from their hospital beds, knows what they've been through.
“Your life is not over yet,” he told them as he related his own moving story.
When he was 8 years old, Sikrul was hit by a bus and his leg was shattered. After enduring decades of severe pain and reconstructive surgery, the 35-year-old lawyer decided: “Maybe I'd be better off without a leg.”
“It was a difficult decision, but one of the best I've ever made. Having a prosthetic leg allows me to do things that normal people can do, but also do things I never imagined I could do, like surfing, kitesurfing, and snowboarding. “I'll be able to do things,” he told AFP.
Sikrul said the amputation was “a kind of liberation. The cage was broken and I got the wings I always wanted.”
The founder and captain of the Israel National Amputee Team, he has instilled the same unwavering optimism in his teammates.
“It's a privilege in my life to be able to support my friends…people who didn't know if they would wake up and walk again,” he said.
“We will prove that we can not only return to normal life, but also play football with one foot and play for our country.”
“If you think back to when you were eight years old and wanted to be a soccer player but your doctor told you to have other dreams…you know how important this is to me.”
– Survivors “play on Arab team” –
While Sikrul likes to push his team with a positive attitude, coach Sharon Pass believes more in tough love. No one is allowed to dalliance even for a moment.
“Being soft on them doesn't help,” he said.
And we have some great talent on the team. Striker Ben Maman, 20, was one of Israel's hottest young stars until he lost his leg after being hit by a motorbike while working as a bicycle courier to support his family during the coronavirus pandemic. He was one of the
Removing his prosthetic leg before training (players are only allowed to play on crutches), he looked around the locker room and said, “I love them.”
Like Binyamin, he lost his left foot and leg, but here he was wearing the national team jersey that he “dreamed of wearing as a child.”
Gaza also has a fledgling amputee soccer team.
Israel's brutal response to the October 7 attack left about 33,000 people dead in the region, according to the territory's health ministry.
But even if the war were to end tomorrow, Binyamin, who has spent years “playing in Arab teams” in Israel, doesn't think he'll get a chance to play a friendly anytime soon.
“Until October 7, I thought there might be peace…and I have a lot of Arab friends, including some from Jenin, who are asking for me,” said the flashpoint in the occupied West Bank. He mentioned the city that became
But after witnessing his actions, he said, “I can't believe there will ever be peace because all they want is our destruction.But no matter what happens, we will not leave.''
fg/jm/jsa
