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Manuel is a prominent Peruvian para badminton player. His awards and medals back him up. He started in the sport of featherweight at the age of 19, in 2018, after he lost his right leg, and it was at the invitation of Pedro Pablo de Vinatea, gold medalist at the Lima 2019 Parapan American Games. He grabbed the racket and tried badminton as a hobby; in the end, he loved it. His effort and dedication have allowed him to win national tournaments and two South American championships. In the Ecuador 2019 edition he won two gold medals, in the individual and doubles modality, and in Brazil 2021, he also won a gold, but only in individual, his specialty; although he points out that he can dispute what the coach tells him, he will always be willing.
He also considers that in the South American Parabadminton Championships in Brazil 2021 he had the best performance of his career, because, first, he was able to defeat rivals that he could not beat before; second, he was able to show how much he had improved. And third, he was able to win even though he didn’t have the best preparation. “I arrived injured at that tournament. A month before they detected tendinitis in my knee and I couldn’t train properly. I did not arrive in good shape. Just like in the matches that the coaches put on me, I gave my best, I left everything on the court and happily I was able to bring that gold medal”reports.
The World Cup and its request to the private sector
His goal now is the World Championship in Japan that will take place between November 1 and 6, but he needs help to travel. It is true that he receives support from the Badminton Federation in sports – he has coaches, a psychologist and a physical trainer – and that he is in the Sportsman Support Program (PAD) of the IPD, for which he receives a subsidy that It allows to cover expenses such as transportation, racket stringing, among others. However, he adds, “I require extra support from a private organization to join the project. What I have to spend at the hotel, for example, is $100 a night. And how are seven days approximately going to be 700 dollars. I also have to pay the registration fee which is another 100 dollars. Not to mention the flight from Lima to Tokyo, it is not cheap at all”.
He also needs a specialized prosthesis so that he can play with greater solvency and comfort. The one he had broke and at the moment he is training with the prosthesis that he uses to walk. “However, that prosthesis is very heavy, it limits me too much, it does not allow me to move comfortably. Therefore, the sports prosthesis is very important in this case. It does harm me a lot to train with the walking prosthesis because it does not allow me to develop my full potential”, he points out. The prosthesis he requires costs about $7,000, money he doesn’t have.
This prosthesis will also help him for the next competitions he has on the agenda on his way to get a ticket to the Parapan American Games in Santiago 2023. The qualifying period for this tournament in the Americas is between June this year and May next, and has to score points in tournaments organized by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). One of them is the Indonesia Para Badminton International 2022 (at the end of August). There is also the World Cup in Japan, the Pan American Parabadminton Championship in Colombia and the International Parabadminton Championship in Peru 2022, all in November. So far, he has not been able to score points.
What Manuel asks for, mainly, is support from the private sector so that he can acquire his prosthesis and pay for his trip to Tokyo. “I make the request to the AJE company, which through its different brands supports athletes. Also to the company Volcan, to Cementos Lima”, express. And she remembers that before Latam had an agreement with the ANPP (National Paralympic Association of Peru) that helped them with the flights, but this year it ended. “It would be good if Latam continued to support us. He has supported us a lot in that aspect and we have brought achievements. We have shown that we can bring different joys to the country”defines the paraathlete.
Finally, he asks the US embassy for support. “Many flights go through the United States, they make a stopover there. And I need the transit visa as soon as possible, because it is the cheapest way to move to the countries in which I need to participate”, manifests. Manuel is channeling help through his social networks (on his Instagram account: manuelp.badminton) or through his cell phone number (980 487 148). “There they could contact me for any kind of help. Any collaboration would be well received and would contribute a lot”indica.
The company that caused the accident
Manuel probably wouldn’t be asking for much help if the company that caused the accident had taken over. Five years ago, in 2017, the young athlete taught math classes at a pre-university academy and on July 9, the day of the admission exam, some of his students had entered the Catholic University. They called him to give a motivational talk, so he attended. The activity ended around midnight and at approximately 1 he was arriving at his house in San Miguel. “I see the gate closed, I was already on the corner taking out my cell phone to make a call and have the door opened for me, when the garbage truck from the Petramás company backs up unexpectedly, going up the sidewalk and running over my right leg. , it had no lights, it had no sound”narrates the paraathlete.
Instead of them acting instantly, Manuel says they kept him there for two hours and didn’t take him to the clinic right away like they should have. “I think they cared more about themselves not to look bad. They put garbage bags on the side. I don’t know what intentions they had for doing that. In other words, the accident had occurred at 1 o’clock and I was only entering a clinic at 3 o’clock in the morning. I arrived with 3 hemoglobin and almost died at that time. I could have died because I arrived with almost no blood.”he points out.
The problem is that the company “He has not taken care of anything”Manuel tells us. He only activated Pacifico’s third-party accident insurance when he entered the San Gabriel clinic, but once he was discharged, he disappeared. The case is currently judicialized in the criminal and civil aspects, but “In these 5 years that have passed, there has been no progress”reveals the athlete; “So, by the way, I make a call to the Judiciary and the Prosecutor’s Office so that they pronounce themselves once and for all against what happened 5 years ago, because how is it possible that so much time has passed and there has been no progress? keep dilating until I don’t know when”.
More information about Manuel Puente
– Play in the SL3 modality of para badminton, in the middle of the court.
– Pedro Pablo de Vinatea inspired Manuel in this sport and also gave him the confidence to get ahead and overcome different obstacles. They both have a very good relationship.
– Manuel studied management and senior management at the Catholic University. He has just finished and has already presented his thesis, he is waiting for his support to be scheduled in order to get his bachelor’s degree.
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