Basketball Player Suffers Serious Injury During All-star Weekend

Twenty-one-year-old Everald Tablada was seriously injured last weekend while participating in the all-star games hosted by the Ahmadiyya Basketball League.  The promising young athlete broke his leg while attempting a lay-up during one of the matches.  The extent of his injury is severe and requires a surgery to repair the broken bone.  Earlier today, News Five spoke with Imam Naveed Mangla of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at.

Naveed Mangla, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat

Naveed Mangla

“Last week, we had the all-star game and this was the first time the whole Mexico Center was filled up.  We had a lot of people that came to see and along with the all-star [game], we had the skills competition and the three-point competition and the dunk competition also.  Everald Tablada plays for the under-twenty-two category.  He’s twenty-one years old and whilst he was in the all-star game and he was playing and he was going for a lay-up, as he landed, up to now we do not know what has happened.  We tried to check out the video and we asked some witnesses but we don’t think if anybody has pushed him.  We still don’t know, was it the way that he landed?  When he landed, he broke his bone.  He fractured it.  So right after we took him to the hospital and it’s been five six days now, we’re still waiting for the doctor to give us the green light for when the surgery will be.  Because it was an open-skin, meaning the bone came out, by the way, it’s one of the worst injuries that I have ever seen, witnessed live, at least I should say.  We are told that because it was open the doctors need a little more time to examine the wound and make sure that it’s not infected to go ahead with the surgery.  So we are still waiting for the surgery to take place.”

Isani Cayetano

“What efforts are being made on the part of the Ahmadiyya community to assist Mr. Tablada?”

Naveed Mangla

“When the injury took place, I met the parents.  I told them that this is not your concern as far as the finances are to be collected.  Because he was playing in our league, we will come up with the funds.  How we do it, through fundraising or asking the government for help or we’re asking our own authorities for help, we will come up with this.  So far, by the grace of God, we have been able to take care of it.”