Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana has won a special award in recognition of his humanitarian work in Africa.
The 28-year-old’s charitable foundation provides free medical care and surgery in underprivileged communities in his native Cameroon and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
He has received world player union FIFPRO’s Impact Award for his efforts, a prize won in 2020 by his United team-mate Marcus Rashford for his work to ensure children continued to receive free school meals when schools were closed.
Doctors working with Onana’s foundation have performed over 1,200 surgical operations over the last three years.
“When I passed through Barcelona, Amsterdam and Milan on my way to Manchester United, I had people who helped me on that journey,” Onana told fifpro.org.
“When I was down, they gave me a hand so that I could stand up. I’ve never forgotten the help I received. Because of the people in the past who supported me, I feel I have a responsibility to give back and help others.
“When I started the Andre Onana Foundation, the idea was to help blind children in Cameroon. We received a lot of support and it’s since grown to become an NGO (non-governmental organisation) that provides free medical care and surgeries to children and adults from underprivileged communities.
“We bring doctors and surgeons, mostly from Spain, to perform the procedures in Africa. In July this year, we had our fourth surgical campaign where a delegation of Spanish health professionals – from nurses to paediatric surgeons – helped over 350 people in Yaounde, Cameroon’s capital.”
FIFPRO will donate 10,000 US dollars (just under £8,000) towards the work of the foundation.
