WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL – Quinten Zantinge (22) from Havelte will compete tomorrow with his club RSV Lahn-Dill from Wetzlar for the German title. The first play-off game against the RSB Thuringia Bulls ended in a resounding victory for RSV. It was 66-55 at home.
“In the end, of course, we were never in danger. But if you sit on the bench for a while and you see your team struggling, it becomes very exciting,” Zantinge reacts after the first play-off game in Wetzlar. With a second victory, the national title is a fact.
Zantinge’s story is impressive. Already at the age of ten he ended up in a wheelchair after a skiing accident. At first sight it was a harmless push with serious consequences.
“I slid into a tree. I broke my lower back and I suffered a spinal cord injury. As a result, I can’t stand or walk.”
The accident also had major consequences for family life. “We actually got a dead sparrow at home. He couldn’t do anything at all. We had to get out twice at night to turn him over like a baby. That was quite heavy. And also that we saw him suffer during colonics. he was horrible, but that was all part of it,” recalls mother Ria.
“It’s as if your life is blocked and you are powerless. I was home for half a year because I just couldn’t work. That just didn’t work,” adds father Jan-Willem.
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