Ghana man preps for triathlon with bad leg, but big heart
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Born with a severely deformed leg in a country where the handicapped are considered a curse, Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah was determined to show the people of Ghana that those with disabilities are capable of great things. So he jumped on a bicycle and started an improbable, Forrest Gump-like journey across his nation to prove just that.
“I see how people are treated in Ghana, and that’s why I am giving all my effort to this,” said the 28-year-old man, who was born without a shin bone. “I don’t want to give up. I don’t want to give up.”
Yeboah’s goal has now gone global. He was in California this week to receive one of cable network ESPN’s ESPY awards, an honor given to courageous athletes that’s named after the late tennis star Arthur Ashe. Then he traveled to Minnesota to prepare for Saturday’s Life Time Fitness Triathlon – where he will be responsible for the 25-mile bike portion of the race for a relay team participating in the event.
“It’s been very good for me to come here,” Yeboah said. “The people in Ghana, they can see how famous I am in the States. So many people there are very appreciative of what I am doing.”
The details of this story, revealed through a soon-to-be-released documentary film about his life, “Emmanuel’s Gift,” and a recent phone interview with Yeboah, are nothing short of fascinating.
Ghana, a nation of about 20 million people on the continent’s west coast, is considered one of Africa’s most enlightened countries as the first to establish its independence and a democratic government. But disabled people account for approximately 10 percent of the population, and they are generally shunned from society and resigned to a life of begging on the streets.
Yeboah was born without the lower part of his right leg, with a normal-sized foot essentially dangling from his thigh instead of a knee.
Because of the disability, his mother, Comfort, was advised to either kill him or leave him in the forest to die. Because of the disability, his father, Dickson, abandoned the family. But Yeboah refused to accept such a cruel fate.
“His mission is to change perceptions. He’s the epitome of doing what you can with limited resources,” said Bob Babbit, a co-founder of the California-based Challenged Athletes Foundation.