ARSENAL winger, Bukayo Saka, says he is delighted to have helped a 12-year-old kid known as Kabir who could barely walk a year ago, recover from his ailment.
Kabiru, a young aspiring football fan, could barely walk before the surgery, but now plays football which he loves so much with his two legs after the surgery.
The England international who was born in London to Nigerian parents teamed up with a charity organisation BigShoe to help children in Kano, Nigeria’s second-largest city to pay for surgeries of 120 kids including Kabiru who were suffering from brain tumours, umbilical hernias, and inguinal hernias.
Thrilled with Saka’s kind influence in transforming their lives and restoring hope to them, the doctor, Musa Ibrahim who performed the surgeries and the children who are beneficiaries, wrote an emotional letter thanking the Arsenal star for his massive support.
“Your support of the BigShoe Charity in collaboration with PSC Specialist Hospital helped us to perform much-needed operation and this act has given the children a brand-new life,”Ibrahim said in a letter sent to Saka which was televised on Supersport.
“I know you feel the connection with Nigeria despite the geographical distance, you have touched their lives and their parents and the children are grateful.
“I have letters from him and his parents also, these are just a few of the children whose lives have changed out of the 120 children you helped.
“Your support has given the children a brand new life.
“Before Kabir’s surgery, he was barely able to walk. He is now able to play the game he loves, post-recovery. His friends even call him “Saka” – and this makes him really proud.”
In his response, Saka said changing and giving children a new life makes more sense to him.
“It makes me smile. This kind of thing means more than anything in the world,” Saka said.
“I am really proud of my Nigerian heritage so to be able to support the children out there is really special for me and I feel so blessed to be able to help them.
“I remember being their age with big, big dreams. The message I want to send to them is to keep dreaming, keep believing and go for it.”
Gary Lineker, a British sports broadcaster and former professional footballer praised Saka for his charity work in Nigeria.
“He’s not just a special footballer, @BukayoSaka87 is also a lovely human,” Lineker said on his X account.
Last week, Saka became the youngest Arsenal player in the Premier League era to hit the 50-goal mark.
His numbers for the season now stand at 13 goals and 12 assists in 31 games in all competitions, a combined total of 25 putting him behind only six players, among them Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah, across Europe’s major leagues.
In a total of 210 appearances for Arsenal, he has scored 51 goals and provided 49 assists. Remarkably, it is a superior return to Cristiano Ronaldo after the same number of games.