Barcelona forward Ferran Torres has actively stepped up to help the victims of the recent Dana storm that caused some awful floods in the Valencia region in Spain.
The storm resulted in the death of more than 200 people and displaced thousands, causing utter destruction and leaving many people homeless.
Spanish teams paid homage to victims of the disaster by holding a minute’s silence before matches in the last weekend. Real Madrid showed utter class by donating £829,000 to the victims fund in an effort to aid them.
But no top-level footballer is probably partaken in actually visiting the affected places and helping with the rebuilding cause or directly helping victims like Ferran Torres.
The Barcelona forward is currently out of action with an injury, but that hasn’t stopped him from helping those in need.
He was recently seen in his civilian clothes in the Valencia community in trying to rebuild damaged artifacts and doing all he can to help restore parity in the region.
A picture saw Torres covered in mud all over and it’s clear he isn’t afraid of getting his hands dirty to help the region recover from the traumatizing event.
Ferran voiced his pain for the victims of the Dana storm after it ransacked the Valencian community, stating on Instagram: “My heart breaks seeing my people and my homeland, Valencia, devastated by the floods. I know it’s not much consolation, but I want to send all my strength and support to the victims and their families. 😢💔 Stay strong, Valencia!”
Growing Up in Valencia
There is a reason why Torres has special affinity towards helping people in the Valencia region. That is because he hails from that community himself.
Indeed, Ferran was born in the Foios, a small town in the outskirts of Valencia on 29 February, 2000.
He spent his entire youth career in that region, being raised by parents, M Dolores García and Ferran Torres Sr, who were huge Valencia CF supporters.
His parents were both middle-class earners who installed that passion for football in him from an early age, as he joined the Valencia youth academy at the age of six. He started excellent at the school level and was recruited by Valencia.
It was also in this region that he developed a love for football, as he detailed in an interview with One Football: “I was lucky enough to live in a house where we had a small bit of land and a very nice garden with a goal in it.
“That’s where I learnt to play football, especially with my grandfather. He always came to look after the dogs that we had at home and with him, that’s where my love for the ball came from. I would even shoot with my dog’s ball – with my dog as the goalkeeper! And honestly, he was sometimes harder to beat my dog than my grandfather.”
Ferran spent nine years in the Valencia youth academy, before transitioning to Valencia Mestella. He made his senior debut for Valencia CF in 2017 and became the youngest player o reach 50 appearances for the club.
Despite leaving the club to join Manchester City in 2020 and then joining Barcelona in 2022, Torres remains the biggest supporter of the club.
He has his own house in the Valencian region and has many friends and family living there, which is why seeing Dana’s destruction was especially gut-wrenching for the 24-year-old.