The 7.4-magnitude earthquake shook Colombia this week. The land where footballer Jhon Arias was born 28 years ago was left with overwhelmed hospitals and a city in ruins.
Together with his wife Alejandra Ayala, the Palmeiras and Colombia national team midfielder arranged and paid for a private plane loaded with doctors and supplies bound for his hometown.
He did not wait for official statements or government aid: he used his contacts, his money, and opened two bank accounts, one in Colombia and another in Brazil, so that anyone could join the cause.
Chocó, the land where he was born, has spent decades as one of the country’s poorest and most forgotten regions. But Jhon Arias was the first to remember his roots when it came to helping.