HEIDENHEIM, Germany (AP) – As fans celebrated the team’s victory, Heidenheim goal scorer Ellen Dinkuch could not hold back tears as she remembered her girlfriend, who has leukemia.
“The goal was obviously for her,” Dinkci, 24, said after Heidenheim’s 2-0 victory over St. Pauli in the Bundesliga on Saturday. “And I hope it makes her happy and that the goal gives her a little bit of strength.”
Dinkci, who is currently on loan at Heidenheim from Freiburg, announced on both clubs’ websites this month that his girlfriend Sinja has leukemia and may need a stem cell donation.
Heidenheim worked with DKMS, a German-founded international charity that supports people with blood cancers and disorders, to organize a campaign to persuade people to register as stem cell donors. Around 688 people registered before and after the team’s game in Freiburg last weekend, and even more are expected to register before and after Saturday’s game in Heidenheim.
In a statement posted on Heidenheim’s website, Dinkci and his girlfriend Sinja stressed that their actions were not for their own benefit, but that they had been impressed by their encounters with other patients and wanted to help them.
Heidenheim coach Frank Schmidt said it was appropriate for Dinkci to score the winning goal.
“This is a story that moves people not only in Germany but around the world, and it moves me as well,” Schmidt said. “Ellen has the opportunity to use her power to help not only her family and girlfriend, but many other people. You can see how much today and last week resonated with us. First and foremost, we are not football players, we are not football coaches, we are not machines. We are human beings.”
Heidenheim are bottom of the Bundesliga, but the win over St. Pauli avoided relegation for at least another week.
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