CHARLIE REVEALS HOW INJURY SAVED LIFE OF HIS FATHER, CHARLES MUSONDA
CHELSEA midfielder Charles Musonda has revealed how a leg injury saved his father from a plane crash with the Zambia national team.
The 24-year-old’s father, also Charles, was a former international and starred for the Chipolopolo between 1988–1993, making 48 appearances for the side.
In 1993, he was called up to represent his country and was determined to honour the invitation against the advice of his club Anderlecht, despite struggling with a knee injury.
He eventually did not make the trip and the plane conveying the national team plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 30 people on board.
Musonda has revealed the injury suffered by his father prevented him from being part of the team for the World Cup qualifying game.
“My dad had a qualifying game for Zambia for the 1994 World Cup. He was struggling with his knee but wanted to play,” Musonda Jnr told BBC.
“When they traveled to the game, the plane crashed and everybody died. The team, the staff, everybody. My dad was lucky because the owner of Anderlecht told him he shouldn’t go. My dad was furious. Two days later the plane crashed. If he was on the plane, I wouldn’t be here.”
The 24-year-old has been on the sidelines since 2018 after suffering a cruciate ligament during his loan spell at Celtic.
The midfielder is determined not to end his career like his father after a knee injury forced him to retire earlier than expected.
“He’s one of the reasons I’m trying to come back. I don’t want my story to end on a knee injury. I want to show that my story was the same but that I came back,” he continued.
“Every day, when I went to do my rehab, I thought about this. I thought about my dad and all the people who couldn’t do it. He is my inspiration. Every day I do it for him.”
Musonda has been with the Blues since 2012 when he joined the youth set-up but has struggled to break into the first team.
The midfielder, as a result, made do with loan spells to enable him to enjoy more playing time and currently has one year left on his contract with the Stamford Bridge outfit.
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