Arsenal star Mesut Ozil pays for life-saving surgeries for 11 kids in Brazil

The German World Cup winner and Arsenal midfielder has continued his philanthropic efforts by paying for life-saving surgeries for 11 kids in Brazil. Last year too during the 2014 FIFA World cup he showed his charitable side by funding operations for Brazilian children.

The Arsenal man’s foundation, "Mesut Özil Foundation" will fund the operations to be conducted on 11 children, whose families otherwise were unable to finance the critical life-saving operations for their children, Independent reports.

Dubbed as "Özil’s Eleven", the children will undergo operations between the 24th October and 7th November 2015 at a hospital in Coroata, located in the north-east region of Maranhao in Brazil, in cooperation with the children’s aid programme BigShoe, according to German FA (DFB).

Not his first major charitable contribution

During Germany’s successful World Cup campaign in Brazil last year, Ozil had helped 23 children to go undergo critical surgeries through his foundation. For his unselfish gesture, he was awarded the ‘Laureus Media Prize’ of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation of Germany/Austria event in Berlin. In partnership with the organisation ‘BigShoe’, Özil enabled the operations to be carried out on children primarily suffering from cleft lips and palates, in the city of Coroata, Brazil.

He told the Laureus website: "Making the donation was a foregone conclusion as far as I was concerned. We wanted to make a lasting mark in the World Cup country of Brazil and this is something which I think we managed to achieve with the operations on these children”

He added: "I am proud to have received this Honorary Prize from Laureus. It's a very special feeling to be included on the list of previous winners. However, I don't just consider this to be merely a prize but also see it as an incentive for me to engage in further social commitment.

He was thereby made the Brand Ambassador for the Brazilian Aid Programme. He said previously that the idea came about after Germany won the tournament because they had 23 excellent players in the squad.

Will continue to do charity: Ozil

The midfielder has pledged to continue his philanthropic contribution through his foundation and has vowed to do charity in his personal capacity.

“Even one year after we won the World Cup, I want to continue to leave a positive mark in Brazil by financing eleven more children’s operations," said Özil.

"For me it’s very important that I carry on providing help for the children of Brazil," as quoted by The Telegraph.