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Bent But Not Broken
Charlie Boswell had the reputation of a first rank player in baseball as well as football. He played both games as a professional. He was in great demand and used to earn a lot of money by playing the two games.
During the Second World War, Boswell was conscripted into the army as a soldier. He shifted his activities from the field of games to the battlefield. He was sent to Europe to fight the Germans. In one of the battles, his tank received heavy shelling from the enemy. The tank caught fire. Although Boswell was well protected inside the tank, he saw his fellow soldiers suffering serious wounds. He jumped out of his tank to save them from the impending jaws of death. He could save most of them, but could not extricate himself from the raging fire. And then another shell hit him. He was thrown a few metres away with a thud.
By this time he had received serious burns. Many of the bones in his body were broken. His fellow soldiers shifted him to a military hospital in a serious condition.
Boswell regained consciousness after a week. It was then that he realised that he had lost both of his eyes because of the impact of the enemy shelling.
For a moment Boswell was shaken to find himself in that condition. He realised too that for him it was the end of his sports career. He would not be able to play his favourite games
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