Without his teammates and without a leg, Jakson Follmann is again training at the Chapecoense home field.
Follmann, one of the six survivors of the Brazilian team’s Nov. 28 plane crash in Colombia, is walking again with the assistance of a prosthetic leg and giving thanks that he’s still here.
“Thank you, God, it all comes down to GRATITUDE,” Follman, who was Chapecoense’s goalie, wrote in Portuguese on Saturday in an Instagram video. He has red cones lined up, so familiar to soccer players, and walks forward and back, one step at a time, working on his coordination without a right leg.
Follmann had been back to the Arena Condá in late January, when the surviving members of the team gathered at the sold-out stadium and lifted the Copa Sudamericana trophy that they had been on their way to try and win when their plane went down.
Follmann was one of three players to survive the crash that claimed 71 lives, including 19 of his teammates. He has said he wants to compete one day in the Paralympics.
“I am always going to be an athlete. I am always going to be the goalkeeper of Chapecoense,” he told The Sun last month.