"To keep living is a miracle": the tragedy that marked the new hero of Penya

BadalonaThe story of Emir Sulejmanovic is one that moves. The new Asisa Joventut player was born on July 13, 1995, two days after the Srebrenica massacre, where at least 8,000 Bosnian men were murdered. From adolescents to the elderly. "My life was very complicated from a young age. What was experienced in Bosnia and Herzegovina is a tragedy. The city of Srebrenica bore the brunt of it, as it was bombed," recalls the green-and-black pivot.

The first hours of his life are enough to make a movie. "I was born in a forest and my mother had to give birth with the help of the people around her. There was a large rock and, as they told me, I was born next to it. It seems impressive to me because no doctor saw me until I was two months old. For me to still be alive is a miracle, but here we are," says Sulejmanovic.

Tension continued to rise and the situation became as cruel as it was unpredictable. “They separated the men from the women. My father went with a group and was captured. I didn't know if he was still alive or where he was,” he explains. After being released by the Red Cross, his father reunited with his wife and their two sons in Finland. “First he tried to go to Germany, where his brother was, but in the end he went to Finland because Germany was not accepting any more immigrants. There began our family's new life,” he assures in an interview with ACB.

His mother died when Emir was only four years old. “Everything happened very quickly. It's still hard for me to ask my father exactly what happened because he feels very bad. The doctors could have done a better job, but nothing can be changed,” analyzes Sulejmanovic, who has signed a two-year contract with Penya.

Some memories remain unaltered. “I still feel my mother present with me. I know things happen for a reason and I want to show her through basketball that I think about her every day and that I would want her to be proud of me,” explains the new Asisa Joventut player.

As time has gone by, Sulejmanovic has needed more explanations. “Almost every year I go back home to better understand the history of what happened. If someone asks me, I would be lying if I said I don't feel more Bosnian than Finnish. I am very grateful to Finland because it allowed me to have a new life,” he argues.

"I only fear God"

“When you play with the national team you have to do it with your heart. When I played my first game with Bosnia and heard the anthem, I felt incredible,” he confesses. The center, who coincided with Ludde Hakanson at Barça's La Masia, has built an indomitable character. “I only fear God. Everything I do, I do it at 120% because that's how I learned to do things. If you do things this way, life rewards you. I've achieved things that many dream of. If you pursue your dreams and fight for them, the reward always comes. Work can never be hidden,” he sums up.

Sulejmanovic, who is 31 years old, has a lot of experience in the Liga Endesa, where he has worn the jerseys of Montakit Fuenlabrada, Cafés Candelas Breogán, Surne Bilbao Basket (in two stints), Lenovo Tenerife, Casademont Zaragoza, and Unicaja. The new player for Asisa Joventut, who wants to make a big impact with the return of Nico Laprovittola and the continuity of Ricky Rubio, averaged 6.3 points and 4.3 rebounds last season in the ACB.