Goto main content

Football to promote the rehabilitation and inclusion of amputees

Rehabilitation

The European Football Championships, Euro 2016 (10 June-10 July), will be closely followed by fans of European football across the world. Handicap International’s teams plan to use the event to highlight how playing football or another sport can help restore some of the mobility and self-esteem of lower-limb amputees. Isabelle Urseau, a rehabilitation specialist at Handicap International, tells us more.

Blaurah, 17 months, tries playing football with her first prosthesis with the help of her mother, at an orthopaedic centre in Haiti. | William Daniels / Handicap International

“In many of the health care centres supported by Handicap International, ball games, particularly football, play a central role in the rehabilitation of patients with a lower-limb amputation.”

“In terms of physiotherapy, ball exercises help patients with prostheses gain confidence in their orthopaedic device and their new form of mobility. We start with a step, then a pass, some dribbling and maybe even a match on crutches...”

“Lastly, it has an even bigger impact on their morale: the exercises are more entertaining and easy to follow because it’s a game. The youngest patients realise they can still have fun with their friends.”

Where your
support
helps

PRESS CONTACT

CANADA

Jahanzeb Hussain

 

Help them
concretely

To go further

In the DRC, Vanessa, a physiotherapist, helps malnourished children
© E. N’Sapu / HI
Emergency Rehabilitation

In the DRC, Vanessa, a physiotherapist, helps malnourished children

Vanessa, 26, is a physiotherapist specialising in stimulation therapy for malnourished children. She works at HI with displaced people in North Kivu, DRC.

HI signs a collaboration agreement with the WHO Academy
© HI
Emergency Health Prevention Rehabilitation

HI signs a collaboration agreement with the WHO Academy

The Academy of the World Health Organization (WHO) and HI have signed a collaboration agreement.

Myanmar, 3 months later
© HI / 2025
Emergency Health Rehabilitation

Myanmar, 3 months later

On 28 March, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit the centre of the country. HI mobilised immediately. Three months later, our teams are still working with affected communities.