Hansel Emmanuel was pursuing his dream of becoming like basketball legend LeBron James, but he had an accident that lost his left arm, but he did not lose his dream that he clung to and fought for until he was one step away from playing in the NBA.

Emanuel (17 years) - known as Kikimeta, and lives in America - achieved widespread fame on social networking sites, through impressive videos in which he demonstrates his basketball skills, and outperforms the healthy with one arm, which made him join the American Universities League. Basketball, to be one step closer to becoming an NBA professional and out of the slum of Santo Domingo where he grew up with his family.

It is not surprising that Kikimeta excels in the game, because his father was a former professional basketball player in the Dominican Republic, and he has been looking forward since his childhood to emulate his father, but it is strange that he shines in healthy matches with a special talent that he was able to compensate with his left arm in an amazing way.

Hansel highlights from yesterday đź‘€ pic.twitter.com/aMOvI2N1Ca

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) September 13, 2021

The accident that turned his life

Kikimeta's love of basketball, like most children, began on the street with friends, but his life was changed forever after a severe accident.

While he was climbing a brick wall, a block of bricks fell on his left arm and crushed it, and his father was able to help him lift it, but after two painful hours, his tendons were severed and the doctors could not do much to save him, and his arm had to be amputated, so his world collapsed after So, the dream of reaching his idol, LeBron James, is shattered.

Instead of playing basketball with his friends, he struggled to learn to perform his normal daily tasks.

"I didn't want to do anything. I couldn't even tie my shoes, and I couldn't get a glass of water," Kikimeta recalls years later.

After some time, Emmanuel returned to playing basketball against the desire of his parents, who believed that it was impossible, as he began to dribble with one hand, and quickly mastered it, to move to skill after skill and excel in it as well, to the astonishment of everyone, to change the position of his parents from rejection to encouragement .

If you wanna achieve something in life, don't let ANYTHING stop you đź—Ł

Hansel Emmanuel continues to inspire 🙏 pic.twitter.com/Pk4bmnDv5A

— Overtime (@overtime) March 7, 2021

start of ascent

Last year, coach Moises Michel at Live Christian Academy in Florida watched the amazing videos of Emanuel, and included him in his team to lead him to the top of the Central Florida Christian Academy State Championship, and gain popularity across America, to receive a scholarship to play at Tennessee State University in the Division I The American College League, which is very popular in the United States after the Professional Basketball League.

Basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal said of the young player: "I hope people understand how different Hansel Emmanuel is. He beat some of the best high school players with one arm."

Hansel Emmanuel put in work to get to this point….

special đź‘Ť

pic.twitter.com/CrOWvEnRv8

— Kevin W. (@Brink_Thinker) July 4, 2021