Some athletes are so good at the sport they practice that they become famous worldwide. However, athletes can also become famous for contributing to their community and helping others. Brazilian soccer player, Rafael Da Silva, became a hero on and off the field.
According to FoxSports, Da Silva played for Manchester United for seven years before he signed with Olympique Lyonnais in August 2015. However, after spending one month with his new club, he was injured. Despite his injury, he still received checks, as it often happens when soccer players are injured. However, Da Silva’s reaction to his payment is unheard of. He requested the Lyon’s management to cancel his payment because he wasn’t playing. The club informed him that canceling his salary was impossible due to “the terms of his contract.”
Since Da Silva did not want to get paid while not playing, his club found a solution to the problem. He donated the money to the Olympique Lyonnais’ charity. The money was used to purchase a mobile robot for kids in a hospital to be “present” and talk to players on match days through webcam, FoxSports reported.
It’s so impressive to hear about such a great act of kindness. Da Silva is not only kind, but humble. Although his donation happened around a year ago, the world just now found out because Da Silva didn’t seek attention for his actions.
In an interview with L’Equipe, he said, “I like playing and I like getting paid for it, but I was not playing…I’m glad I made money for the kids, but it was also good for me. It did me good.”
His actions are absolutely admirable.
Being a successful and world-famous athlete comes with many responsibilities and opportunities, and one of them is being part of charity events or organizations. Many athletes are involved in their communities and help people worldwide. Also, plenty of professional and amatuer events are for charity.
Tennis player and former World No. 1 Serena Williams, according to looktothestars.org, supports 12 charities and foundations, including UNICEF and the Serena Williams Fund. Soccer player David Beckham, is also a UNICEF ambassador, owns a charity called Victoria and David Beckham Charitable Trust which focuses on helping children.
While athletes like Da Silva are willing to help, other athletes aren’t. Lamar Odom was involved in a scandal with his charity three years ago, which ESPN reported. Odom’s charity was called Cathy’s Kids in honor of his mother who died of cancer. It was supposed to fund cancer research, but according to ESPN, after raising around $2.2 million no money was donated toward the cause. Athletes should use their popularity to do good for the world, not to scam people who donate to their charity.
Although not all athletes are like Da Silva, the majority of them are very committed to charity organizations and foundations. The fact that such important athletes, like Serena Williams and David Beckham, support these causes is very important, since they are helping people from all over the world. Famous athletes contributing to and helping people in need is what makes them heroes.
