--- title: Haitian Amputees Find Hope in Soccer | TIME description: The newly-formed Haitian Amputee Soccer team were a long shot to win the World Cup, but just playing helped many of the members deal with the tragedy of the 2010 earthquake. canonical: https://time.com/video/tiCxf5Jd/ og:title: Haitian Amputees Find Hope in Soccer og:description: The newly-formed Haitian Amputee Soccer team were a long shot to win the World Cup, but just playing helped many of the members deal with the tragedy of the 2010 earthquake. og:url: https://time.com/video/tiCxf5Jd/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/tiCxf5Jd/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Haitian Amputees Find Hope in Soccer twitter:description: The newly-formed Haitian Amputee Soccer team were a long shot to win the World Cup, but just playing helped many of the members deal with the tragedy of the 2010 earthquake. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/tiCxf5Jd/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Haitian Amputees Find Hope in Soccer > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Haitian Amputees Find Hope in Soccer [Watch (HLS stream): Haitian Amputees Find Hope in Soccer](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tiCxf5Jd.m3u8) (3:57)  _Published 2010-10-22. The newly-formed Haitian Amputee Soccer team were a long shot to win the World Cup, but just playing helped many of the members deal with the tragedy of the 2010 earthquake._ --- Jul 27, 2023 3:06 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Double Amputee Xia Boyu Climbs Mount Everest ](/video/nUHaOXa6/) ### Double Amputee Xia Boyu Climbs Mount Everest [A Haitian Teacher’s Passion and Vision for Change](/video/mk5Yr7II/) ### A Haitian Teacher’s Passion and Vision for Change [Video: Haitians Mourn and Begin Again](/video/55TwUTkS/) ### Video: Haitians Mourn and Begin Again --- ## Transcript >> All it really takes to play is a soccer ball and a field. As for the rest, they make do with what they have, battered crutches, torn sneakers, and makeshift markers. -[ Foreign Language ] >> These Haitian team is used to overcoming obstacles. Its 15 members are all amputees. This team will make its debut in the World Cup of Amputee Soccer in Argentina in mid- October. >> I feel great. I see that it's a big step for us to be playing in the World Cup for Amputees, you know what I mean? >> Some of these players were disabled before the cataclysmic earthquake hit this Caribbean nation last January, but others like 23- year- old Mackendy Francois lived with a recent memory of amputation. When Mackendy was working at a t- shirt factory the structure caved in on him. With help from a group of men he was able to dig himself out, except for his left leg. To save himself Mackendy says he started to saw off his own limb with nothing to numb the pain. >> I took the saw and I started working on my own doing my own part. I started to saw. When the group of men came in, they saw me sitting there sawing my leg. They said this man needs life. We'll do all that's possible to give him life and I said in the name of Jesus I will find life no matter what. >> Mackendy survived but he says he felt broken and depressed in his post- quake body. That was until he tried out and made the National Amputee Soccer Team. >> That's what always keeps me together, soccer. >> More than 4, 000 people have limbs amputated after injuries in the earthquake, but Haitian society continues to shun people with disabilities. These players say they found more than a team but a family, and even though the team has never played an official game, you would never guess it by looks of saves by goalie Emmanuel Ladoucir. The 24- year- old was buried underneath rubble for 4 days with no food or water. He says he lay there ready to die. >> I had made up my mind that I was going to kill myself, commit suicide. Where I was there was already someone dead. I couldn't find an opening. I scratched the ground but all the dirt went into my mouth. When I thought I was going to die, I quickly dropped everything. After that I thought about it and realized how beautiful life is. >> With this fighting spirit that the team will take to the World Cup, coach Andrea Palcombe says he pushes these guys hard because they're representing more than just their country. >> An earthquake just happened in the country. 200, 000 people died and we have the chance to go to the World Cup. If we're here it's not for any old reason. It's not for any old reason and we must advance. We must keep pushing forward until we reach the finish line. >> But to get to the Cup will take more than spirit. It takes money. Even with the support from international groups like Ambassadors in Sport the team has a long way to go until they reach their goal of $ 50, 000 to travel to the World Cup. And when they do get there, winning is a long shot. They'll be up against teams who have played many more matches, but this is a team used to conquering challenges and they say they're ready for their shot at gold. For TIME video, Jessica Desvarieux, Port- au- Prince, Haiti. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Haitian Amputees Find Hope in Soccer","description":"The newly-formed Haitian Amputee Soccer team were a long shot to win the World Cup, but just playing helped many of the members deal with the tragedy of the 2010 earthquake.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/tiCxf5Jd/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2010-10-22T15:18:04.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tiCxf5Jd.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/video/tiCxf5Jd/","duration":"PT3M57S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/video/tiCxf5Jd/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}} ```