FIFA Puskas winner Marcin Oleksy reflects on life-changing accident – ‘I knew I couldn’t give up’

Marcin Oleksy has opened up on his life-changing accident that saw him lose a leg in 2010 when he was fixing a pothole.

Oleksy became the first-ever amputee footballer to win the FIFA Puskas Award, joining the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Zlatan Ibrahimovic by claiming the prize for the best goal of the year.

Prior to his accident, Oleksy played lower league football in his native Poland. The feeling of football was a big part in his road to recovery after his accident 13 years ago.

“An elderly man crashed a man into our road-roller and both the roller and the vehicle ran over my legs.

“I lost consciousness in the ambulance and woke up when we got to the hospital. I remember them putting a mask on me and I looked down and thought, ‘that leg has gone’. When I woke up again a few hours later, I saw the other leg had several screws in it.

“I spent a month in the hospital. I won’t say there were no tears, of course there were. My partner was pregnant and because of that I knew I couldn’t give up. I decided I had to fight.”

Oleksey was a goalkeeper for Korona Kozuchow in the fourth tier of Polish football but in the world of amputee football, he is making an impact up front.

The 35-year-old’s overhead kick in November beat the other nominees for the best goal of the year, including Richarlison’s acrobatic effort at the 2022 World Cup for Brazil against Serbia.

It’s the positive influence that Oleksey has had since the incident which he is most proud of after being afraid he “wasn’t going to make it”.

“What’s most important is to keep on fighting,” he added. “Life is beautiful.

“I think when you have an accident, or nay kind of imperfection, you just have to enjoy being in this world.”

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