Growing up in an underdeveloped zone of Sebokeng, south of Johannesburg, South Africa, Musa Motha says his surroundings weren’t exactly idyllic. But he did have a dusty, make-shift soccer pitch directly across the street from his home. And for Motha, it was “paradise,” he said.
That field brings back both good and bad memories for Motha. Soccer was his favorite sport, and he fondly remembers the times he played for the local youth team.
But one game, when he was just 10 years old, would change everything.
“We were playing (a) tournament and I got injured on my left knee — someone kicked me, and I fell. Ever since that day, I was in pain,” Motha said.
He recalled many sleepless nights in agonizing pain. Eventually his mother took him to the local hospital, and from there he’d go to many more. “The doctors assessed my leg and they couldn’t find anything. There were no fractures in it,” he said. “They were frustrated — ‘what is this,’ you know, ‘what’s happening?'”
Musa Motha visitng the soccer pitch where he used to play. Credit: Bruce Buttery
He said the first round of chemotherapy treatment did not work, and Motha’s doctor informed his parents that they’d need to amputate his leg.
“They did not take it well,” Motha remembered, and neither did he. “I’m a little boy, I mean, losing your leg? I’m like nah, it’s not going to happen,” he said.
They did not proceed with the amputation, but as time went by, Motha got worse. “I could not even stand up,” he recalled. “So, it was a matter of it’s either amputation or I die.”
He chose the amputation and ever since that day, he decided he was going to approach life differently — more positively, he said.
Creating space on the dance floor
True to his word, Motha, now 26, can be seen twirling across…
Source : cnn
