In minus four degrees and on slippery artificial grass, 31-year-old army veteran and mother of two Olga Benda can for a moment forget about her problems and focus on the football in front of her. The football is part of an effort to both integrate injured war veterans back into society and make them feel better. – The body and emotions merge, at least temporarily. It will be like a rest from everything else that is just going on, says Olga Benda. Don’t know if her husband is alive Olga Benda lives in Kiev with her two children. She has not seen her husband, who is also a soldier, since January and today the family does not know if he is still alive – but she is trying to keep her spirits up for her children. – What is happening to my country is tragic. I wish, of course, that everything were peaceful. But that’s not the case, and if it weren’t for my two children, I would enlist again. Wants to be a role model Already in 2017, she was forced to amputate her left leg after a Russian grenade attack in the Ukrainian town of Avdiika in Donetsk Oblast. – Two grenades exploded right next to me. Shrapnel destroyed my left shin so I was forced to have amputation, says Olga Benda. But still, she doesn’t see herself as a victim. Instead, she wants to be a role model, convinced that Ukraine has the strength to defeat the Russian occupation forces. – I have the enthusiasm and the will to keep fighting. No matter how difficult it will be to rebuild Ukraine after the victory, I want to continue living here. It is our country. Wants to start competing Now Olga Benda has big goals with parafootball and wants to make it grow. – My dream is that we succeed in putting together a female Paralympic team. So we can start competing. And win, of course.
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