An injury has temporarily stopped a young girl’s blossoming career in football, which called for a fund-raising drive to support her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) operation.
The fund drive, “80-two for Eunique,” calls for 80 supporters to donate P2,000 each for the ACL operation of under-16 girls’ national football team player Eunique Bocalan.
“What happened was heartbreaking not only because she could no longer join the tournament she trained hard for, but also the injury halted her blossoming sports career,” said football coach Ariston Bocalan, father of Eunique.
Bocalan said his daughter needs to undergo ACL operation immediately so as not to aggravate her condition. Eunique incurred the injury during her training with the Philippines’s U-16 girls’ squad, where her left knee buckled in one drill causing intense pain and disabling her from training.
The accident happened a week prior to the AFC U-16 women’s qualifiers in Nepal in 2018.
Financial constraints have prevented the family from getting the operation for Eunique.
ACL injuries most commonly occur in sports that involve sudden stops or changes in direction and jumping and landing, such as soccer, basketball, football, and downhill skiing.
Physiotherapist Anna Liza Demegillo has confirmed an ACL insufficiency on the athlete while a magnetic resonance imaging procedure at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center validated the earlier diagnosis of the team’s physiotherapist and recommended reconstruction for the injured ligament.
“We are knocking on the good hearts of the members of the football community to give whatever you can so that Eunique can be back on the field to play again,” Bocalan said.
The young footballer is a grade 12 student of the University of the Cordilleras and hopes to earn a scholarship when she enters college next year.
Those who want to help in the athlete’s surgery may deposit their donation to BPI account 8129019485 with account name Ariston C. Bocalan, or contact his mobile numbers 0945-830-9994 or 0939-552-1004. – Ofelia C. Empian
