How does a person who can’t see or hear watch football? The question might leave anyone baffled but not Jose Richard Gallego.
Gallego lost his vision and hearing when he was just nine years old. A football buff, Gallego suffers from Usher Syndrome, a rare condition that affects both hearing and vision, according to a report in The Daily Mail.
While the condition was a new reality for Gallego, his love for football never died. Perhaps, that’s why, his friend, Cesar Daza, decided to take up sign language classes for him. It had a special purpose. After rigorous sessions of mutual practice and non-verbal communication, Daza developed a unique hand technique to explain a football match to his friend in real time.
From telling him the position of players to different gestures like penalties, corners and fouls, Daza has a unique gesture for each. All of this is mimicked on a scaled-down football pitch in front of them.
Recently, a video of the two enjoying Colombia’s match against Poland in a cafe went viral on social media. The video showed Daza engrossed in TV while simultaneously relaying the match to his friend who’s sitting just across the table. To the duo’s cherish, their home team emerged as the winner of the match.
However, the country couldn’t move forward to the next level of the competition.
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