Mohammed Dantini
– Mohammed got injured while playing football
– His football dreams were shattered as his right leg was amputated
– His parents could not get him an adequate hospital and they resorted to a traditionalist who amputated his leg
– He has sons who play football and it delights him to watch them play
When Mohammed was growing up in the small village of Mariga, in Kontagora all his dream as a child was to become a famous footballer and make name for himself and of course have fun along the line.
“I enjoyed playing football, whenever we are playing on the street I always score, I still remember school sports growing up then in the 80s life was fun, I always want to play football when I grow up,”Mohammed told us
He got injured while training for a football game in his school this happened in the 80s. He blamed his teacher for poor handling of the players which led to him getting his fragile legs fractured beyond repairs at a tender age of nine.
“I was nine years old and I love football but during a practise session the teacher tried to turn me so that I can balance well, this went wrong and my legs cracked, that sound is still in my head till date.”
He partake in football games in primary school and even played football in the neigbourhood with little children, he was a midfielder and the favourite of many in the locality.
“Anyone who knows me then link me to football, I started playing football at age four, my mother told me that I would kick anything I saw at sight and start playing and with the help of an uncle of mine, he always carried me on his shoulders to a nearby football field where I watch adults play and by the side the children will gather and start playing, I grew up loving football I still love the game and I follow it passionately.
When the accident happened he was rushed to the headmaster who checked his legs and after which they sent for his mother, his father was not around as he was busy on his farm.
“I started shouting when my leg broke, all the school students gathered around me, they rushed me to the headmaster and my mother and the other wives of my father came crying and weeping, we did not have a good hospital in the village that time.”
Mohammed was in pains – the community lacks adequate medical care apart from the usual pharmacist known as ‘chemist’ where you can only get analgesic, you have to travel for hours to the capital before you could get a hospital. And by the time they got there five hours after it was too late for him.
“I was in pain and the heat was much as people were all over me I couldnt move and I was weak, the tears and agony of my mother did not help at all. I watched her roll on the floor, and I was passing out,” he said this and removed his glasses and used his hand to clear a tear that rolled from his left eye.
“Before we could get the headmaster’s car to work was a problem we eventually got help and when we got to town the doctor was not on duty and the nurse said they have to cut my leg.
This act could not be carried out immediately as they have to call a specialist to carry out the operation, all the medications given did not stop the pain and he said he will rather they cut his leg than the pain he was going through. They went back to the village and they consulted a traditionalist who cut the leg.
“They cut my leg and I saw it on the table, that was the most horrible thing I have ever seen and I was just a nine year old boy, he paused.
As there was no doctor in the capital city to attend to him, the family members advised they go back to the village which they later did and got it done.
“I was given some local concoctions to drink to ease the pain and also some locally made medicine to rub on the wound so that my leg can get healed on time.
When his wounds were healed, the kids in the area made jest of him, his friends deserted him, he was stigmatized in the community and called the ‘one legged monkey’.
“The next stage after the amputation was the most difficult, more terrible that than the pains I felt. I was mocked, mimicked and laughed at within the community, where they will start singing and calling me a monkey with one leg amongst other names.”
“The other stage was that I have to learn to work with a leg and clutches, it was not easy to adapt, I am 45 years old now and I have been using this clutches for 36 years so it has become a part of me,” he smiled.
He eventually overcame the trauma of using a single leg and he enrolled back to school, he finished his primary and secondary education and got admission into a college in Niger state where he learned computer programming and repairs. This doesn’t stop him from going to different venues to watch football, he has also helped in coaching young children before he departed his village in search of greener pastures.
Conclusion
He relocated to Abuja and started repairing computers for some companies, some had pity on him because of his disability. He started making money and rented a house for himself, but could not cope with the discrimination which made him seek the disability colony, joined and started living in their midst. It gave him rest of mind and belonging.
“Some mean people do not want to associate with me because I have a leg and they have two, is it my fault? he asked. “I looked for my kind and now I am settled here, we have the blinds, the deaf and dumb here and we live in peace and harmony.
Mohammed has a phone shop now after a refresher course on phone repairs in addition to his computer knowledge and this has helped him build a small house for himself within the colony and his village in Kontagora. He is a well-known phone repairer within the colony, he also have people employed to who work for him.
“I have a house here and I have tenants as well, yes I do,”he smiled. “I have also built a house for myself in the village, mother is living there now” he spoke in an impeccable English accent.
He is married with four kids who love to play football and he always watch them proudly whenever they play and compete with other kids.
“It was not hard for me to find a wife, you know I have money and not doing badly, I took a wife from my village and brought her to Abuja, I have kids, a good wife, a house and career good enough to send my children to school.” he told NAIJ.COM.
“Anytime my sons are playing football, in the corner of my heart I pray they don’t get injured but I still encourage them to play.
“My 19-year-old boy is so skillful that I pray to the Almighty Allah to give him the strength to watch him play at the world stage in future, I am a happy man.
Aderonke Bello, the sports editor in Naij.com visited the disability colony in Abuja when she learnt about Mohammed Dantini, she met with him at his house and they had a chat where he narrated his ordeal – how he overcame depression, survived mockery, how he got married and his future plans and expectations.
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